(also referred to as '''VIA Rail''' and '''VIA'''; pronounced 'vee-ah') is an independent
Crown Corporation offering intercity passenger
Rail services in
Canada .
VIA Rail operates trains in eight
Canadian Provinces (all provinces except
Newfoundland And Labrador and
Prince Edward Island ) over a network spanning the country from the
Atlantic to the
Pacific , and from the
Great Lakes to
Hudson Bay . VIA Rail reportedly carries 3.9 million passengers annually.
VIA Rail's corporate headquarters are in
Montreal ,
Quebec .
The post-. Critics of this shift point out that all these new services were subsidised by taxpayers, from construction of highways to construction of airports, making it difficult for rail to compete; opponents of rail point out that the construction of the railway themselves was similarly subsidised.
By the
1960s it was obvious to both Canadian National (known as CN after 1960) and CPR that passenger trains were no longer economically viable. CPR sought to rid itself of the burden of operating passenger trains, but federal government regulators and politicians balked, forcing CPR to continue running a minimal service through the
1970s . CN on the other hand, being a
Crown Corporation , was encouraged by the federal government and political interests to invest in passenger trains. Innovative marketing schemes such as ''Red, White, and Blue'' fares, new equipment such as scenic
Dome Car s and
Rail Diesel Car s, and services such as Rapido and
Turbo trains saw substantial increases in ridership, reversing previous declines.
By the
1970s even CN saw the writing on the wall and sought to rid itself of passenger trains. The decline of passenger rail became a federal election issue in
1974 when the government of
Pierre Trudeau promised to implement a nation-wide carrier similar to
Amtrak in the
United States . The bilingual name or '''VIA CN''' originated in
1976 as a marketing term for Canadian National's passenger train services and the VIA logo began to appear on CN passenger locomotives and cars, while still carrying CN logos as well. That September, VIA published a single timetable with information on both CN and CP trains, marking the first time that Canadians could find all major passenger trains in one publication. In
1977 , CN underwent a dramatic restructuring when it placed various non-core freight railway activities into separate subsidiaries such as ferries under
CN Marine and passenger trains under '''VIA Rail''' which was subsequently renamed '''VIA Rail Canada'''.
On
April 1 ,
1978 Canadian National's passenger subsidiary VIA Rail became a separate Crown corporation, taking with it possession of former CN passenger cars and locomotives. Following several months of negotiation, on
October 29 ,
1978 VIA took over operation of CP passenger train services, along with similar possession of cars and locomotives. Passenger train services which were not included in the creation of VIA Rail included those offered by
BC Rail ,
Algoma Central Railway ,
Ontario Northland Railway ,
Quebec North Shore And Labrador Railway , various urban commuter train services operated by CN and CP, and remaining CN passenger services in
Newfoundland . At this time, VIA did not own any trackage and had to pay right-of-way fees to CN and CP, sometimes being the only user of rural branch lines.
VIA initially had a tremendous variety of equipment and operated routes stretching from
Sydney, Nova Scotia to
Prince Rupert, British Columbia and north to
Churchill, Manitoba . In excess of 150 scheduled trains per week were in operation, including transcontinental services, regional trains, and
Corridor services.
The national reach and new marketing schemes saw ridership spike in the late
1970s and early
1980s to previously unheard-of levels, brought on partially by unprecedented inflation and rising gas prices.
However, increased ridership would not be VIA's saviour. In
1981 , Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau 's government endorsed
Minister Of Transport Jean-Luc Pépin 's plan which cut VIA Rail's budget, leading to a 40% reduction in the company's operations. Gone in an instant were frequently sold-out trains such as the ''
Super Continental '' (which reduced VIA to operating only one transcontinental train, ''
The Canadian '') and the popular ''
Atlantic '', among others.
VIA also sought to reduce its reliance on over 30-year-old second-hand equipment and placed a significant order with
Bombardier Transportation for new high-speed locomotives and cars which would be used in its corridor trains. The
LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) locomotives and cars utilised advanced technology such as
Active Tilt to increase speed, but proved troublesome and would take several years to work out problems.
The election of Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney 's government in
1984 brought a friend to VIA, initially, when several of Mulroney's commitments included rescinding the VIA cuts of
1981 by restoring the ''
Super Continental '' (under pressure from his western caucus), and the ''
Atlantic '' (under pressure from his eastern caucus and the formidable then-
Saint John mayor
Elsie Wayne ). Mulroney's government gave VIA funding to refurbish some of its cars, and purchase new locomotives, this time a more reliable model from
General Motors Diesel Division.
It was during this time on
February 8 ,
1986 that VIA's eastbound
''Super Continental'' Collided With A CN Freight Train near
Hinton, Alberta as a result of operator error missing a signal light. The resulting derailment killed 23 people and remains the worst accident in modern Canadian railway history in terms of loss of life.
By the late
1980s , inflation and other rising costs were taking their toll on federal budgets and in the
Mulroney administration's infamous
1989 budget, VIA again saw its budget slashed, surpassing even the 1981 cuts under Trudeau. Minister of Transport
Benoit Bouchard oversaw the reduction in service on
January 15 ,
1990 when VIA's operations were reduced by 55%.
Services such as the ''
Super Continental '' were cut again, along with numerous disparate rural services such as in
Nova Scotia 's
Annapolis Valley and
Cape Breton Island ,
Western Canada , and in the corridor. ''
The Canadian '' was also moved from its 'home' rails on CP to the northerly CN route (which the ''Super Continental'' had used). This was a less-populated (and less scenic) route between
Toronto and
Vancouver , severing major western cities such as
Regina and
Calgary from the passenger rail network and flaring deep-rooted western bitterness toward
Ottawa .
Officially, the move of the western transcontinental train from the CP to CN line was in order to serve more remote communities; however, this move was seen as being politically motivated. Coincidentally, several prominent members of the governing
Progressive Conservatives were elected along the CN route. It was also notable that
Harvie André , one of Alberta's federal cabinet ministers who represented Calgary, was fairly public about the fact that he did not care if he never saw a passenger train again in his life.
Emerging out of these disastrous cuts, VIA was a much smaller company and immediately took to rationalizing its fleet of cars and locomotives, resulting in a fleet of refurbished stainless steel (HEP-1 and HEP-2 rebuilds, defined as 'Head End Power') and LRC cars, as well as rationalizing its locomotive fleet with GM and Bombardier (LRC) units.
VIA was not spared from further cutbacks in Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien 's government elected in
1993 . Minister of Finance
Paul Martin 's first budget in
1994 saw further VIA cuts which saw the popular ''
Atlantic '' dropped from the schedule, focusing the eastern transcontinental service on the ''
Ocean ''.
This move was seen as somewhat controversial and politically motivated as the principal cities benefiting from the ''Atlantic's'' service were
Sherbrooke, Quebec and
Saint John, New Brunswick , where coincidentally the only two
Progressive Conservative Party Members Of Parliament in Canada were elected in the 1993 federal election which saw Chrétien's
Liberal Party take power. The ''Ocean'' service which was preserved operates on trackage between Montreal and Halifax running through the lower St. Lawrence River valley and northern New Brunswick. The Minister of Transport in Chrétien's government at the time,
Douglas Young , was elected from a district that included
Bathurst, New Brunswick , on the ''Ocean's'' route. Interestingly, a remote VIA service to Quebec's
Gaspé Peninsula , the ''
Chaleur '' was also spared from being cut at this time, despite having less ridership than the ''Atlantic''.
By the late
1990s , rising environmental concerns focusing on reducing dependence on automobiles and airplanes (see
Kyoto Accord ), as well as rail-friendly Minister of Transport
David Collenette , saw modest funding increases to VIA. Corridor services were improved with new and faster trains, a weekly tourist train ''
The Bras D'Or '' returned VIA service to
Cape Breton Island for the first time since the
1990 cuts, and a commitment was made to continue operating on
Vancouver Island , however western Canada continued to languish with the only service provided by ''
The Canadian ''.
In a significant new funding program dubbed 'Renaissance', passenger cars were purchased second-hand from a cancelled
Great Britain -
France project which was to use the
Channel Tunnel rail link for long distance journeys, and new diesel-electric locomotives were purchased from
General Electric (to replace the retiring LRC units). This expansion to VIA's fleet has permitted scheduling flexibility, particularly in the corridor. Additionally, many passenger stations have been remodelled into rider-friendly destinations, with several hosting co-located transit and regional bus hubs for various municipalities.
On
October 24 ,
2003 , federal Minister of Transport David Collenette announced $700 million (CAD) in new funding over the next 5 years. This funding was far below the $3 billion (CAD) needed to implement a high-speed rail proposal in the
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor nicknamed ''VIA-Fast'', however the funding was intended to 'provide for faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger service across Canada....
the option for higher speed rail, such as the Via Fast proposal' said Collenette. This new project was to be called 'Renaissance II'. [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/24/train031024 Critics of 'Renaissance II' noted that the majority of spending would take place in the corridor services and not add new trains or improved scheduling to Atlantic and Western Canada.
Plagued by problems, the ''Renaissance'' cars are nicknamed ''déplaisance'' ('displeasure') by
French -speaking employees.
On
December 18 ,
2003 ,
Prime Minister Paul Martin announced a freeze in federal spending on all major capital projects, including VIA's five-year $700 million capital investment 'Renaissance II' program announced just six weeks earlier by outgoing Prime Minister Chrétien's administration. According to the company, the Transport Minister will be reviewing its plans in
2004 and will then decide whether or not the funding will be made available. Critics of Martin's cuts noted that he was in a distinct conflict of interest where he and his family through
Canada Steamship Lines and various subsidiary and affiliated companies, had a significant investment in the
Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines , an intercity bus line in Quebec and eastern Ontario which was a key competitor with VIA Rail.
Route cuts under the Martin government include the withdrawal of the seasonal ''
The Bras D'Or '' tourist train, which ran for the last time in September 2004, and the Montreal-Toronto overnight ''Enterprise'', which was discontinued in September 2005.
The federal
Auditor General 's report released publicly on
February 10 ,
2004 showed what appeared to be a criminal misdirection of government funds intended for advertising to key
Quebec -based supporters of the
Liberal Party Of Canada . (See
Sponsorship Scandal ). Included in the Auditor General's report was the fact that VIA Rail Canada was used as one of several federal government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations to funnel these illicit funds. Forced to act on the Auditor General's report due to its political implications, Prime Minister Paul Martin's government suspended VIA Rail President
Marc LeFrançois on
February 24 ,
2004 , giving him an ultimatum of several days to defend himself against allegations in the report or face further disciplinary action.
Several days later, during LeFrançois's suspension, a former VIA Rail marketing department employee,
Myriam Bédard , revealed she was fired several years earlier when she questioned company billing practices in dealing with advertising companies. She was publicly belittled by VIA Rail Chief Executive Officer
Jean Pelletier in national media on
February 27 ,
2004 . Pelletier retracted his statements but on
March 1 ,
2004 , Pelletier was fired. On
March 5 ,
2004 , after failing to adequately defend himself against the allegations in the Auditor General's report, LeFrançois was fired as well.
Despite its role as a
Political Football in both the administration and operation of the company, VIA continues to operate transcontinental service, provided by ''
The Canadian '', running three times a week between
Toronto and
Vancouver in the west, and by the ''
Ocean ,'' operating six times a week between
Montreal and
Halifax in the east.
International connections are provided by agreement with Amtrak and include the ''
Maple Leaf '', operating between
New York 's
Pennsylvania Station and Toronto's
Union Station via
Albany and
Buffalo . The ''Adirondack'' is an exclusive Amtrak train operating between
Montreal 's
Gare Centrale (Central Station) and
New York City 's Penn Station.
Amtrak Cascades offers service between
Vancouver and
Seattle, Washington . There are numerous daily trains operated in the heavily populated
Quebec-Windsor Corridor which extends from
Quebec City through
Montreal ,
Kingston ,
Toronto , and
London to
Windsor . Service between Toronto and Montreal to
Ottawa is included in this grouping.
While VIA Rail is an independent federal Crown corporation mandated to operate as a business, it is hindered by the fact that it was created by an
Order-in-Council of the
Privy Council , and not from an actual legislation passed by
Parliament . If VIA were enabled by actual legislation, the company could be permitted to seek funding on the open money markets as other Crown corporations such as
CN have done in the past. It is largely for this reason that VIA continues to answer first to its political masters, as opposed to the business decisions needed to ensure the viability of intercity passenger rail service.
- Alstom second-hand "Renaissance" coaches, sleepers, and service cars (originally manufactured for "Nightstar" sleeper services through the Channel Tunnel )
- Bombardier LRC passenger carriages
- Budd Company Canada streamline coach car — ex-CP Rail
- Budd Company Canada streamline dome car — ex-CP Rail
- Budd Company Canada streamline dining room car — ex-CP Rail
- Budd Company Canada streamline baggage car — ex-CP Rail
- Budd Company Canada coach — ex-CP Rail
- Pullman Standard coach
- Pullman Standard observation car
- Pullman Standard RPO car
- Pullman Standard sleeper car
- Budd Company Canada 46-seat coach
- Budd Company Canada diesel multiple unit — retired / ex-CP
- Budd Company Canada grill and diner car
- Budd Company Canada 10-6 sleeper car
- Budd Company Canada 73' baggage car
- Budd Company Canada lounge car
- Budd Company Canada baggage and dormitory
- Budd Company Canada tavern observation car
- Budd Company Canada dome car
- Colorado Railcar low-level "glasstops" passenger car
Railway companies that used to carry passengers include:
Other publicly-owned regional passenger carriers:
Privately owned Canadian VIA Rail competitors:
- Allen, Tom. ''Rolling Home: A Cross-Canada Railroad Memoir'' Toronto: Penguin, 2001. ISBN 067088473-1.
