![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-12-at-8.15.32-AM-219x300.png\")
When Transport Minister Jean-Luc Pepin lowered Ottawa’s axe on VIA\u2019s exposed neck in the first of several cuts beginning in November 1981, he said it was necessary to free up funding to buy Bombardier\u2019s problem plagued Light, Rapid, Comfortable (LRC) trains.\u00a0 He added that \u201csome\u201d might run outside the Quebec-Windsor Corridor.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some of the trains cut by the Liberals returned briefly in 1985 due to the hollow promises made by the Conservatives the year before, although their glowing pre-election rhetoric conveniently omitted a date for vital VIA modernization.\u00a0 The result was a January 1990 chop deeper than the Liberals had delivered in 1981.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gone with the stroke of a pen on the order-in-council that killed the trains was half of VIA.\u00a0 This included The Canadian<\/em>on its original CP Toronto-Vancouver route along the Lake Superior North Shore and the daily Winnipeg-Vancouver Super Continental<\/em>, which was replaced by a tri-weekly Faux Canadian<\/em> using the CP stainless steel equipment on the CN route three times weekly and priced beyond the budgets of many Canadians.\u00a0 That paltry service is now down to twice weekly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, will any of these trains in modern form ever return to serve all those \u201chardworking Canadians in all those hardscrabble towns yearning for existential change\u201d that the politicians invariably reference in their feel-good speeches?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely, but that doesn\u2019t make it less necessary.\u00a0 With the loss of most intercity bus services in recent years and the deplorable, unaffordable air service being served up, a network of modern regional passenger trains could and should once again link many points on various medium-distance routes across the country, including Northern Ontario.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Modern self-propelled diesel-electric trainsets \u2013 which can also be powered by any combination of batteries, hydrogen cells or straight overhead AC power \u2013 that were originally designed for European service are now finding homes in the U.S. and on Ottawa\u2019s O-Train commuter line.\u00a0 They\u2019d be ideal.\u00a0 They\u2019re fast, economical, environmentally sound and safe for use on existing lines.\u00a0 Some infrastructure tweaks to ensure the passenger and freight trains don\u2019t get entangled would complete this package.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Considering the $15 billion in debt being carried by Canada\u2019s airport authorities, which will inevitably become the public\u2019s problem, and the $10 billion in pandemic relief funding for the aviation sector, such a rail investment would be a bargain.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Equally insulting to current and potential rail passengers is the federal government\u2019s latest fantasy rail plan for \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 the Quebec-Windsor Corridor.\u00a0 It has been promoted as being \u201cfreight-free,\u201d implying it will run entirely on dedicated passenger tracks.\u00a0 \u2018Taint so.\u00a0 It will require access to a considerable amount of freight trackage to get in and out of major cities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The label slapped on this dream scheme is high frequency rail (HFR), which is meaningless.\u00a0 Any decent rail service \u2013 no matter what the speed \u2013 must provide numerous departures and arrivals spread throughout the day to appeal to travellers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By mid-2022, HFR had devoured $974.8 million for consulting studies, none resulting in an actual plan, although the lines on this Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal fantasy\u2019s map has grown to include Quebec City and perhaps Windsor.\u00a0 As the public\u2019s cash flows, the government refuses to apply a sticker price.\u00a0 Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra retracted his earlier guess of about $12 billion.\u00a0 He now just says \u201cmany billions.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s more to this politically-motivated dream scheme to grind the gears of anyone hoping for better rail service in Northern Ontario, on the Prairies or out in the Maritimes.\u00a0 Delivering more carloads of detail here would be cruel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But never fear.\u00a0 The chances of this back-of-the-napkin scheme being built are comparable to the formation of icicles in Hades.\u00a0 It will add up to nothing more than vast quantities of public cash frittered away at a time when the entire nation is crying out for improved and affordable travel options.\u00a0 As has always been the case, the missing ingredients remain political desire, political will and political commitment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been especially fond of Northern Ontario, dating back to the first of my many visits since I saw the region north of the French River through the windows of CP\u2019s original version of The Canadian<\/em> in 1968.\u00a0 Those visits have given me an appreciation of the region\u2019s potential and its need to be better connected internally and with all the other regions that have been given the shaft many times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If these indignant words help start a northern rail passenger fire, I\u2019d be delighted.\u00a0 I believe I can say the same for numerous friends who\u2019d use the trains, such as my transplanted Ontario friend in Brandon and several other friends across Northern Ontario.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All aboard?<\/p>\n