lenaitch
Senior Member
There are two key aspects to government regulation of commerce; public interest and public safety. Both have to be considered against a company's ability to operate profitably in a free market economy, and companies will argue against changes, but probably more against the former than the latter. Public interest regulation is generally more subtle and broader but can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Public safety regulation is mostly about playing the odds in preventing death and injury.
Companies are generally a little keener on safety regulations because they are potentially civilly liable (wrongful deaths, etc.). Outside of a breach of contract or performance, nobody's taking a company to court because they are providing lousy service. I think Lac Megantic was a nadir for both the government and rail operators. I'm no fan of the Safety Management System approach ('self policing') but it seemed to be a confluence of government saying 'ya, do what you want' to a shortline holding company that was treating running a railroad the same a running a chain of pizza shops.
Given the amount of freight moved by our two Class Is and its impact on the Canadian economy, I really don't see any government getting aggressive so long as people aren't dying, and certainly not over the topic of passenger rail.
With the potential of Alto largely using its own property, the government will see that as a win-win. Lakeshore corridor service will trundle along providing some level of service and maybe even, in time, be largely supplanted by Metrolinx. The remote/regional communities will be happy they have something, anything, and the long distance service is largely a tourist train that can survive with its significant delays provided they still offer top level service and cuisine.
Companies are generally a little keener on safety regulations because they are potentially civilly liable (wrongful deaths, etc.). Outside of a breach of contract or performance, nobody's taking a company to court because they are providing lousy service. I think Lac Megantic was a nadir for both the government and rail operators. I'm no fan of the Safety Management System approach ('self policing') but it seemed to be a confluence of government saying 'ya, do what you want' to a shortline holding company that was treating running a railroad the same a running a chain of pizza shops.
Given the amount of freight moved by our two Class Is and its impact on the Canadian economy, I really don't see any government getting aggressive so long as people aren't dying, and certainly not over the topic of passenger rail.
With the potential of Alto largely using its own property, the government will see that as a win-win. Lakeshore corridor service will trundle along providing some level of service and maybe even, in time, be largely supplanted by Metrolinx. The remote/regional communities will be happy they have something, anything, and the long distance service is largely a tourist train that can survive with its significant delays provided they still offer top level service and cuisine.