MONTREAL — Canada’s transportation minister says he’s ready to invest in better rail service for Central Canada, CBC News reported.
David Collenette made the announcement in light of Ottawa’s pledge last week that it would ratify the Kyoto agreement to reduce toxic emissions.
“With the population growth and the congestion, Via Rail has a very good potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, getting cars off the highway,” said Collenette. “Plus, people want an alternative to Air Canada.”
Collenette said train travel has become even more important after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Passenger rail use jumped as high as 70 per cent soon after the attacks involving four hijacked planes.
Collenette wants rapid trains linking the cities in the Windsor to Quebec corridor — specifically Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal. The Central Canada service accounts for 70 per cent of Via’s four million riders a year.
Nothing like the TGV in France The minister says improving track quality and signalling could shave 30 to 45 minutes off the Montreal-Toronto run. The fastest trip is about four hours. By car, it takes at least six to seven hours.
The minister has asked Via officials to study how they can increase speeds and boost ridership in the corrider. A report is due out this fall.
Collenette, who takes the train frequently, said the government has no intention to fund a service like the Acela Express built by Bombardier. The American rail service, Amtrak, put Acela into service in the New York-Boston-Washington corridor.
Acela has been plagued by technical problems and delays. Collenette said that type of service is too costly.
“There are things that we can do to have a faster train but not necessarily a TGV,” said the minister in reference to the super highspeed trains in France.
Consumers groups say putting more funds into rail service is the right thing to do, but placing so much emphasis on Central Canada is unfair.
“There are another eight provinces,” says Harry Gow of Transport 2000. “Do you think western Canadians and Maritimers are really going to be pleased to see their service reduced and service in the (Central Canada) corridor increased?”
Transport 2000 is lobbying for more trains between Ontario and Vancouver. Marc Gaudry, a transportation analyst in Montreal, says the minister is on the right track. Via has demonstrated it can attract new passengers just by boosting frequency of service and having better departure times.
Gaudry also suggests the government consider subsidizing bus transport.