Canadians deserve MUCH better passenger rail service
Canadians deserve MUCH better passenger rail service
As I sit here on Via Rail’a Ocean train which is parked on a siding adjacent to Folly Lake in Nova Scotia, I’m reminded of how backwards our country’s approach to passenger rail is.
The rails are dominated by Canada’s two private freight railways, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, both of which were quite happy to dump passenger rail services nearly 50 years ago when the federal government stepped in to create Via Rail.
Over the decades since, various federal governments have slashed funding for passenger rail and axes services. Long gone are routes on Vancouver Island, through Calgary and Banff, to Peterborough, to Cape Breton, and so many more. Outside of the high-traffic Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto corridor, the remaining services elsewhere are decidedly limited and equipment has seen better days.
There is no cohesive passenger rail planning Canada, with governments instead applying band-aids.
The Ocean (eastern Canada) and the Canadian (western Canada) are particular vulnerable to delays largely caused by the freight companies, which own the tracks.
For a solution, we only need look to Europe where passenger rail is prioritized and much of the rail infrastructure is government-owned. That’s what is needed here. After all, taxpayers largely funded the building of the railroads of this county and now we have nothing to show for that investment.
It’s time Canadian rail infrastructure is nationalized so it again belongs to us. A crown corporation managing this should ensure tracks in under-served areas are upgraded and well maintained. An expanded roster of passenger services (how about restoring what we had in the 1970s) must be prioritized.
As for the freight companies, they require much stricter regulation and enforcement. They’ve run roughshod over safety issues and passenger rail for far too long.
The time for a new approach to Canadian rail is now. Let’s put people first!
When you consider that the backbone of the fleet was built in the early 1950’s (the stainless steel Budd Car Co. equipment) we can’t really hope for much better. The only rails that VIA actually owns is the Brockville to Coteau via Ottawa route; on all other routes it is a tenant. Given that the current philosophy in freight rail circles is on trains that are 12,000 feet on average, it is no wonder that VIA trains are unable to maintain any sort of schedule. Even the core Quebec City-Toronto corridor is subjected to long waits for VIA trains when CN freights are given priority. Passenger trains do not have right of way over freight in Canada, contrary to what some may believe.