This is an utterly uninformed and fact-absent description of what VIA has done over the last decade to sustain the long distance passenger service in this country, and the context and environment in which those decisions are made.
I would suggest you browse VIA's Annual Reports and Corporate Plans for the past decade. They are all on line.
VIA has spent the last decade beating back a series of policy recommendations to trim or eliminate long distance trains altogether. That's hardly an environment where one would be pitching new equipment acquisition. For the most part, those concerns appear to have been addressed and the continued subsidy is (I hope) less at risk than it was a decade ago. Along the way, VIA had to resolve issues around timekeeping and scheduling that impacted the reputation of the service. Again, that's not a good moment to go asking for money for new equipment.
VIA was successful for a time in getting money to overhaul various classes of long distance cars. The thing that made those proposals compelling was a need for accessibility. Those programs were cut back in the end.
VIA also spent the last decade documenting (successfully) the need to replace the Corridor fleet, and (less successfully) trying to get government to consider the HFR proposal. There's good judgement in putting those programs at the top of the list. Through all of that, VIA has been clear that the LD fleet is reaching end of life.
And that's just what was put in print. I'm confident that VIA was not shy in alerting Ottawa behind closed doors about the aging of its fleet. It's pretty obvious why those discussions would not happen in public. In the end, they can only make requests.
- Paul
