With trains old enough to remember Elvis’s debut single, Via Rail is getting a much-needed upgrade.
What happened: The federal government announced it will spend $4.7 billion to acquire 313 new Via Rail passenger cars, the largest investment in the service’s history. The new cars, meant to replace fleets on long-distance and rural routes, will be designed and built entirely in Canada.
In July, Ottawa announced a $1.9 billion investment to build new locomotives for Via Rail. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the upgraded equipment would improve Via Rail’s reliability, the lack of which has hurt ridership.
Why it matters: Anyone who’s been on a Via train lately can tell you it’s not exactly the model of punctuality (or comfort). The new cars and locomotives should help limit mechanical delays and accommodate more passengers, but Canada’s rail system still has structural issues that need to be addressed.
Last year, Via’s on-time performance sat at an abysmal 35%, down from an average of 80% in the mid-2000s. For comparison, on-time performance for trains in the U.S. last year was 72%, while some European countries are as high as 94%.
The tardiness largely comes down to track priority and speed limits. Privately owned CN Rail owns ~83% of the tracks Via operates on, while Via owns ~3%. Since CN prioritizes its cargo trains, Via passengers deal with constant delays.
Our take: The upgraded Via Rail trains will give Ottawa something positive to point to when the embattled Alto high-speed rail project inevitably goes belly up.—LA
