VIA CEO departs

Too bad it isn't Amtrak's Gardner that is "feeling a sense of accomplishment" and seeking other opportunities.

Wonder what that was about. Seems pretty abrupt.

jiml said:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/top...eral-transport-minister/ar-AAXwUBK?li=AAggNb9

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like she was Forced Out by Politics.

.More like time to make some "Real Money" as they say in Washington when leaving Political jobs.

An analysis from Trains Magazine...

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...nce-at-the-root-of-ceos-resignation-analysis/

The trains mag article reinforces my worry that VIA outside the corridor was slowly being killed by a thousand cuts.

There's not much left of VIA outside the Corridor.

There are the "remote service" trains which the federal government requires VIA to run, but rather than providing dedicated funding for them, the government demands that VIA fund them out of any profits from the Corridor, thus draining the budget for improvements on the Corridor or anywhere else. These are a huge budget drain. Mandating these services without providing separate funding for them is effectively an attack on train service.

These aren't like Amtrak's routes; Amtrak's routes actually have a lot of riders. These "remote service" routes have no population density, and only exist due to lack of roads. They have lower ridership than seasonal tourist railroads. In another era, they would have been supported by tacking a passenger car onto a freight train, which is probably what should happen, but the Class I freight railroads don't know how to run trains on time any more, so "mixed trains" don't exist.

Then there's two trains a week on the Ocean and two trains a week on the Canadian, running clapped-out equipment on schedules so slow they'd embarass Amtrak, and having their servicing facilities slowly displaced. These have the demand, but don't have the equipment or the political support.


The provinces are no help. The governments of the Maritimes are all run by road fanatics who are destroying their economies by blowing all the money on worthless roads, while their population leaves, moving to places which have trains. British Columbia doesn't seem to show interest in connectivity to other provinces (they care more about US connectivity). Ontario doesn't show interest in connectivity to provinces to the west (the US and Quebec are more important). Alberta doesn't seem to have any interest in connectivity to other provinces, either (despite funding substantial light rail systems in Calgary and Edmonton). I don't have a read on Manitoba or Saskatchewan politics, but it seems like they don't even realize that they have train service. Quebec doesn't care about connectivity to other provinces and is kind of proud of its insularity.


The fastest way to go by train from Toronto to Vancouver, or reverse, is by Amtrak. (Maple Leaf / LSL / Empire Builder / Cascades actually beats The Canadian. ) If VIA can't get any political support from Manitoba, Alberta, or Saskatchewan, chances look very poor.