The future of passenger rail service

Ever since Via Rail Canada was formed in 1977, the same problems and grim realities continue to exist. Without any legislation to support its existence, Via Rail seemed doomed from the start. Then came the disastrous decision to privatize our national railroad, CN Rail, in 1995. There were no safeguards in place to protect Via Rail. CN wasted no time in ensuring Via was treated poorly, running second fiddle to freight operations.

Via Rail has done little to help its cause over the years with ridiculous high pricing and an arrogant management style that has made them unaccountable and out of touch with the public. A recent auditor general report identified deficiencies in Via's project management systems and practices.

Today, the status of Via Rail must be considered critically endangered. It needs over $1 billion to update its aging fleet. Their flagship train, The Canadian, has become a punching bag for CN with on-time performance around 25 per cent; delays between 10 and 24 hours do occur.

In desperation, Via Rail's CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano has resorted to a $4-billion plan to run slow trains along an old and abandoned passenger rail corridor. Small communities like Sharbot Lake have been told by Via Rail they will get passenger rail service returned. Other communities like Pontypool, Perth and Tweed are fighting for a stop along the route.

Poor treatment by CN of Via trains running on CN tracks has been a serious problem for Via, but this extreme move to the former Ontario-Quebec Railway line has a myriad of its own problems. Canadians dreaming of modern high-speed passenger trains have been continually disappointed for the last 50 years as over 22 studies have been done in Ontario alone with no action taken by any government.

The Ontario Liberal government has shown its commitment to high-speed trains running between London, Kitchener and Toronto. This route was suggested in a 1995 study as the preferred route to Toronto. The proposal is now being studied in depth. The concept of the 3Ps - Public-Private Partnerships - are under serious consideration for funding, building and operating the London to Toronto proposal.

So the bitter reality is that more than 40 years after its creation, Via Rail has the same fundamental problems today as it did then. Let us be cautiously optimistic for the renewal of passenger rail in Canada in 2018.

Paul Langan

Cambridge