Via Rail president and CEO Mario Peloquin will be stepping down in January, according to a statement from Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon.
“As minister responsible for Via Rail, I have accepted Mario Peloquin’s resignation,” MacKinnon wrote in the statement, adding that Peloquin plans to retire after a 41-year career in the railway industry.
“I would like to thank Mario for his dedication and commitment to Via Rail over the past two and a half years, and I wish him continued success in his future endeavours,” MacKinnon added.
Peloquin was appointed as president and CEO of the Crown corporation in June 2023, which was intended to be a five-year term. According to his profile page on Via Rail’s website, his career started as an operator and rail traffic controller before taking on roles with Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board. He previously served as chief operating officer for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and as senior vice-president at the former SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
In the private sector, Peloquin worked for the Paris-based Keolis Group, and sat on the boards of several transportation clubs and associations.
The news comes less than a week after MacKinnon revealed that the first segment of the proposed Alto high-speed rail project will run between Montreal and Ottawa.
The full project, if built, would move passengers between Quebec City and Toronto on trains travelling up to 300 kilometres per hour. The line would include stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval and Trois Rivieres.
Alto is a subsidiary of Via Rail.
Last summer, Via Rail ratified a new collective agreement with the union representing workers at stations, maintenance centres, the customer care centre, in administrative offices and aboard trains. The deal lasts through the end of 2027.
Via Rail faced a flood of criticism last week when hundreds of passengers were left stranded for hours after one of its trains broke down near Brockville, Ont.
At the time, MacKinnon told reporters in Gatineau, Que., he “wasn’t happy” with the company’s response and pledged to sit down with officials to discuss how to do better.
“We have a public transportation system, Via Rail, that operates in a Canadian winter. There are going to be issues,” he said last week.
“It’s how you deal with those issues when they arise ... and I want to make sure Via is on a path of continuous improvement.”
With files from CTV News’ Luca Caruso-Moro and The Canadian Press
