Despite all of the challenges and risks Via has been highlighting, it has one proposal in the works that could dramatically change passenger rail service in Canada and provide an example to follow in other regions.
The plan calls for an estimated $4.4 billion to buy new tracks between Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City to improve the frequency and punctuality of service on Via Rail’s busiest routes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has not yet given final approval to this “High-Frequency Rail” plan. But in a
mandate letter, the prime minister asked Transport Minister Marc Garneau to work with Via Rail on the project as well as on improving access and affordability of trips to Canada’s national parks.
Transport Canada told Global News that it is assessing a range of options through initial discussions with Via Rail and Parks Canada, but that it does not yet have a timeline for implementation.
Some experts say proposals such as these are essential for promoting passenger rail as a means of transportation that slashes greenhouse gas pollution and moves Canada toward the carbon-neutral future in 2050 that Trudeau has promised.
“Many of us are interested in the environment, but when you’re pressed by other things, [such as when] you have needs you need to meet, you have something due for work, it’s hard to put the environment first,” said Shoshanna Saxe, an assistant professor of civil and mining engineering at the University of Toronto.
“So, if we want people to travel by train, it needs to be the easiest, cheapest, fastest option.”