The federal transport minister is calling on Via Rail to improve reliability and customer service for passengers.
Via Rail cancelled dozens of trips on the Ottawa-Montreal-Toronto corridor during the second week of February due to “operational constraints.” In December, more than 100 passengers spent the night stranded on a train in eastern Ontario after a train experienced a mechanical failure near Brockville, Ont.
Appearing before the standing committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said Via Rail is an “important service” for Canadians.
Conservative MP Dan Muys told the committee that Members of Parliament continue to hear concerns about delays in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Muys asked “what specifically” MacKinnon will do to ensure parliamentarians and Canadians can see improvements with Via Rail service.
“The service has not been as customer-friendly, reliable or as punctual in recent years as it has needed to be,” MacKinnon said Monday afternoon.
MacKinnon noted Via Rail trains must navigate “unpredictable weather” during the winter months and does not have priority on “many segments” of tracks along the Windsor-Quebec City corridor.
“Within those constraints, I have made, in no uncertain terms, my expectation clear to the new senior management at Via Rail that this must improve. That customer services, communication with customers must improve, that reliability of service,” MacKinnon said, adding people want to know “that trains are going to depart on time and arrive on time.”
“Everyone understands that storms happen and freak incidents occur, but beyond that, the things that are controllable, I expect Via Rail to control,” MacKinnon said.
MacKinnon told the committee in French that Via Rial “must do better.”
“The service is essential for connecting communities across Canada, and as Minister of Transport, it is my top priority to ensure that all Canadians remain safe on our transportation networks,” MacKinnon said.
He noted the federal government instructed Via Rail to update its emergency management action plan in 2024 after passengers were stranded for about 10 hours in Quebec after a train broke down.
MacKinnon told the committee that the federal government “made it clear” in 2024 that Via Rail needed to strengthen staff training, address equipment failures and focus on passenger wellbeing.
