# VIA Rail Legislation



## George (Aug 29, 2014)

What are the chances that Canada would pass legislation similar to Amtrak's PRIIA where train OTP and freight interference are addressed?


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## The Davy Crockett (Aug 29, 2014)

With Harper as PM and the Conservatives in majority in Parliament... Razor slim, to none.

Frankly, its cheaper to give those VIA riders who choose to actually use it, a credit towards future travel, than to mess with delaying freight shipments.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 29, 2014)

Amtrak is treated like Royalty by the Class Ones ( exception; BNSF on rhe Hi-Line)compared to VIA Trains (especially the Canadian) that have to bow down to CN Freights! The Harper Government, as was said, is Very Conservative in comparison to ours!


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## Amfleeter (Aug 30, 2014)

Yeah - I agree with your statement Jim - when I took the Canadian, I think we passed ONE CN train. The rest we went into the hole for. We weren't very late either - only 2 hours late at our latest.

When I take Amtrak (fairly often, actually), it's very rare that we get sent into the hole - on the CL a few months back, we were clean and clear nearly straight through, only stopping for track work near the Continental Divide, and on the Northeast Regional I usually take WAS-NFK, we've been stopped only once in my memory, and that was due to nasty - as in tornadic - weather. Honestly, as much as people complain, Amtrak has it pretty good - it's big enough and has enough political support, unlike VIA, to push around the freights, and out East, it has the fact it does dispatching for CSX and NS on the very high traffic sections of the NEC, which CSX and NS would very much like to have timely usage of. In my experience, the primary thing Amtrak suffers from is track work, and the freights suffer from it just as much.


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2014)

Quite apart from OTP and freight interference VIA's mandate is not based on any legislation. VIA was created and operates by Order in Council, i.e. executive order to use the US equivalent terminology. Passenger rail advocates have pushed governments to enshrine VIA through legislation for years, but no government of either political stripe has been so inclined,. The present system gives governments the flexibility to do whatever they want, subject to Parliament's oversight of the budget.

On the other hand the federal government has invested significantly in the past few years in infrastructure upgrades on the CN line between Montreal and Toronto, on the Via-owned line between Ottawa and Smith Falls, and in the northern corridor west of Toronto through Guelph and Kitchener. All of these investments have been designed to increase capacities and speed in mixed traffic railways, though in the last example the main beneficiary so far has been GO Transit not VIA This financial support would have been subject to contribution agreements among the parties, but the contractual force of such agreements is limited, to say the least, because circumstances (i.e. freight traffic volumes) can change.


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## George (Sep 6, 2014)

From http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-10.4/rpdc.html:

"(2) Despite subsection (1), in the case of an agreement between VIA Rail Canada Inc. and a railway company that was entered into before the day on which section 44 of this Act comes into force, Via Rail Canada Inc. may apply to the Canadian Transportation Agency to decide any matter respecting the priority to be given to the trains of any of the parties to the agreement. In making its decision, the Agency shall have regard to the public interest and to the operational requirements of the parties to the agreement. Section 152.2 of the Canada Transportation Act, as enacted by section 44 of this Act, applies, with any modifications that are necessary, if the Agency, as part of its decision, fixes an amount to be paid by Via Rail Canada Inc. In the event of any inconsistency between the Agency’s decision and the provisions of the agreement, the Agency’s decision prevails to the extent of the inconsistency."

Does this mean that VIA actually could have the Canadian Transportation Agency arbitrate whether VIA trains could have priority over freights?


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