United Rail Passenger Alliance

For those of you who slept through social studies and world geography classes, the total population of Canada is less than the population of California. Canada shares the same eastern and western borders as the United States, but the eastern border is further into the Atlantic Ocean, providing an entire new time zone — Atlantic — that the US doesn’t have. The total Canadian land mass is about equal to the US land mass. Canada’s densest population corridor is between Quebec City and Montreal in the province of Quebec, extending to the national capital, Ottawa, and Toronto in the province of Ontario.

As this is written, one Canadian dollar roughly equals one American dollar.

You may wish to note in one of the press releases below VIA refers to its flagship transcontinental route of the Canadian as its most important route, not the business travel route of VIA’s equivalent of the Northeast Corridor between Quebec City and Toronto.

One other note; harsh winter weather, which annually seems to take Amtrak Chicago by complete surprise, is routine operating conditions for VIA Rail Canada. Canada’s long winters and constant frigid conditions make railroading an entirely different proposition in Canada than in the United States.

For immediate distribution – Wednesday, September 19, 2007

VIA offers CEO treatment for $149
Company’s Fall Marketing Campaign Targets Business Travellers

VIA Rail Canada has just launched a major 12-week fall marketing campaign targeting business travellers between Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto, featuring a $149 one way fare in VIA 1. The promotion runs from September 10th to December 7th inclusively.

VIA’s campaign theme centers around the comfort of travelling in VIA I business class. VIA 1 passengers enjoy WI FI access in all stations and on board, pre-boarding, full meal and beverage service, larger seating, ample legroom and access to Panorama lounges at major stations in the Corridor.

“We are committed to offering business travellers convenience, reliability and personalized service,” said Steve del Bosco, Chief Customer Officer at VIA Rail.

About VIA Rail

For a complete listing of train departures, fares, or information customers can visit VIA’s website http://www.viarail.ca, or contact their travel agent. Passengers can also book their tickets at VIA kiosks located in major Corridor stations.

As Canada’s national passenger rail service, VIA Rail Canada’s mandate is to provide efficient, environmentally responsible and cost effective passenger transportation services, both in Canada’s busiest corridor and in remote and rural regions of the country. VIA serves more than 450 communities with a network of inter-city, transcontinental and regional trains. Demand continues to grow as more Canadians turn to train travel as a safe and convenient travel choice.

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Monday, September 24, 2007

VIA Rail Cites Customer Focus as Strategic Business Advantage

Brockville, ON – VIA Rail Canada’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Côté, today emphasized that customer service is the foundation for the company’s success. VIA has chosen to focus on providing excellent customer service as its core business strategy, citing this as a strategic business advantage.

Addressing a group of business people at a luncheon organized jointly by the Brockville Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, Côté showcased the VIA experience as one-of-a-kind..

“A recent survey indicated a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating for VIA, a score that makes us one of the most trusted and admired transportation companies in Canada,” said Mr. Côté. “In a market that has seen little growth over the past five years, there is really only one way to make our business thrive – by increasing the value of that unique experience for our customers. The reason people choose the train is it offers something a little different – a more comfortable, convenient and less stressful way to travel. We call it the more ‘human’ way to travel,” he added. “And our success as a business depends on delivering a ‘human’ experience that consistently matches and surpasses expectations.”

This strategy has produced tangible results. In the 2006 Commerce-Léger Marketing Survey, respondents ranked VIA as the most admired transportation company and one of the top 30 most admired companies overall. Last year, VIA’s revenues increased, for the third straight year, to close to $300 million. More than four million passengers boarded VIA trains last year; the Quebec City-Windsor corridor alone carried a record 3.5 million passengers.

VIA has an established presence in the City of Brockville – the city that opened the first railway tunnel in Canada, and marked the completion of a new rail service from Montreal more than 150 years ago. That service grew into a network linking Quebec City to Windsor, which now carries some 400 passenger trains per week, and 3.5 million passengers per year. Last year, 63,000 passengers used the Brockville station, placing it among the busiest stations in Canada. …

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Friday, September 28, 2007

VIA Rail Canada Unveils its Route to Well-being in Paradise

VIA’s Spa Train Travels to Ontario’s Ultimate Spa Destinations

MONTREAL – VIA Rail Canada is pleased to announce it has partnered with Premier Spas of Ontario to introduce the new Spa Train Route. Passengers can immerse themselves in the relaxing comforts of train travel while contemplating the peaceful spa treatments that await them at one of the Premier Spa destinations along the Spa Train Route. So grab your girlfriends for a special getaway, celebrate your anniversary with special his-and-her treatments, or leave the world behind and get back in touch with yourself. Let VIA Rail and Premier Spas show you the “Human Way to Travel.”

VIA Rail’s Spa Train Route gives you access to 18 quality-assured Premier Spa destinations in Ontario that are waiting to indulge you with facials, massages, body wraps and other luxurious treatments to rejuvenate your body – and soul. Each of the participating Premier Spas offers packages that include return train travel and shuttle transportation to and from the nearest VIA Rail station.

Use VIA Rail’s Spa Train Route and take the healthy track to any of the following Premier Spas:

Au Naturel Spa – Ottawa, ON (nearest station: Fallowfield) Holtz Spa – Ottawa, ON Claramount Inn & Spa – Picton, ON (nearest station: Belleville) The Hillcrest -Valenova Hotel & Spa – Port Hope/Cobourg, ON HighFields Country Inn & Spa – Zephyr, ON (nearest station: Oshawa) Ste. Anne’s Spa – Grafton, ON (nearest station: Cobourg) Elizabeth Milan Day Spa – Toronto, ON Elmwood Spa – Toronto, ON HealthWinds – Toronto, ON Rosewater Health and Beauty Spa – Oakville, ON SilveryBlue Butterfly Spa – Oakville, ON Magnolia House Spa – Waterdown, ON (nearest station: Aldershot) Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa – Cambridge, ON Pillar & Post 100 Fountain Spa – Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (nearest station: St. Catherines) The Spa at White Oaks – Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (nearest station: Niagara Falls) Fayez Beauty Spa – London, ON

Looking to explore Ontario a bit more? There are also two Premier Spas of Ontario destinations north of Ontario, along VIA’s flagship Canadian route:

Trillium Resort & Spa – Port Sydney, ON (nearest station: Washago) Inn at Manitou – McKellar, ON (nearest station: Parry Sound)

For more information on the Spa Train Route and the various spa packages, go to viarail.ca/spatrain. …

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

VIA Rail Offers Exciting End-of-Season Discounts on Its Ocean and Chaleur Trains

Spectacular End of Season Discounts Add Lustre to Fall Foliage

MONTREAL – VIA Rail Canada’s Ocean and Chaleur trains are offering attractive end-of-season discounts in Comfort Sleeper and economy class, and there’s still time to enjoy some fall colours along the way. Until October 31, 2007, customers can purchase reduced-price tickets for trips taking place, no later than December 19, 2007.

Travellers can take advantage of discounts as high as 50% on VIA’s Montréal-Halifax (Ocean) or Montréal-Gaspé (Chaleur) trains. Tickets must be purchased no later than October 31, 2007. Space is subject to availability and some conditions do apply.

Fall is the perfect time of year to admire Canada’s friendly eastern shores and the wooded coast of New Brunswick aboard the Ocean. And nature lovers will be captivated by the many grandiose landscapes: the Matapédia Valley, Chaleur Bay and Gaspé Peninsula as they unfold while travelling on the Chaleur. …

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Canada’s new government revitalizes inter-city passenger rail services in Canada

OTTAWA – The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, along with the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced a new funding package for VIA Rail Canada Inc., a Crown corporation, to revitalize inter-city passenger rail services in Canada. The funding totals $691.9 million over the next five years.

“Today, Canada’s New Government is acting to provide faster, cleaner, more frequent and reliable passenger rail service across Canada,” said Minister Cannon. “The corridor between Quebec City and Windsor has the largest passenger volumes and will benefit from infrastructure improvements that will make the entire passenger rail system more efficient and accessible.”

“VIA Rail has a proud legacy of serving Canadians, and our government is taking steps to make this wonderful service even better,” added Minister Flaherty. “We are launching the largest capital program in VIA Rail’s history. It will allow for the renewal of VIA Rail’s fleet, the upgrading of the existing network and it will support a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and a safer Canada.”

“I would like to thank the Government of Canada for this welcome and timely investment in VIA Rail Canada,” said Donald A. Wright, VIA’s chairman. “It is an important recognition of the entire team at VIA, whose hard work over the past decade has earned VIA solid marks for its excellent customer service and sound management. This investment is also recognition of the potential of the current passenger rail service to meet the growing transportation needs of Canadians in an environmentally responsible, efficient and cost-effective manner.”

This new investment addresses VIA’s capital needs, ensuring that its current network and service levels are sustainable into the future.

Of the total funding package, $516 million in capital funds will be allocated over five years for infrastructure improvements and equipment refurbishments, beginning in 2007. This investment will be targeted towards:

fleet renewal, through refurbishment of the F40 locomotives and Light, Rapid and Comfortable (LRC) passenger cars;

strategic infrastructure improvements to eliminate bottlenecks in the Quebec City -Windsor corridor;

and station refurbishments.

The equipment refurbishment will also help improve the company’s environmental performance through increased fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions per passenger.

The remainder of the funding, a total of $175.9 million over five years, will be directed towards VIA Rail’s operating costs. This additional funding is needed to sustain VIA’s national network until the capital program is completed. VIA expects to reduce its maintenance costs after the equipment is rebuilt and to attract more passengers as it moves to provide faster, more frequent service on its trains in the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.

“Once the F40 locomotive rebuilding program is complete, VIA will have one of the most fuel efficient fleets of diesel locomotives of any passenger rail operator in North America. The locomotives will also meet the new emissions standards set by the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Canada and the Railway Association of Canada – which includes Via Rail,” concluded Minister Cannon.

Funding improvements to the national transportation system is one of Canada’s New Government’s priorities for investments in infrastructure. Through its unprecedented $33-billion Building Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is making partnership investments to support a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and a more secure Canada.

VIA Rail Canada Inc., a Crown corporation, was created in 1977 to operate Canada’s national passenger rail service.

A Backgrounder on the new funding is attached [See below].

New Funding For VIA Rail Canada

Canada’s New Government recognizes that investments are required to ensure the long-term viability of passenger rail services and to improve VIA Rail’s financial performance.

This new funding, totalling $691.9 million, will improve the sustainability and reliability of passenger rail services in Canada and provide more frequent, faster, cleaner and safer services along the Quebec City — Windsor Corridor. The proposed equipment and facilities investments, combined with strategic infrastructure improvements, will address VIA Rail’s capital needs and improve its operational performance. The funding will allow VIA Rail to rebuild its aging fleet of locomotives and cars, upgrade stations, and improve strategic infrastructure to eliminate bottlenecks and enhance capacity for faster, more frequent and reliable service.

These investments will benefit Canadians across the country. For example:

• The F40 locomotive rebuilding program will improve the reliability of VIA services, lower maintenance costs and help to improve the company’s environmental performance through increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. The rebuilt locomotives will ensure another 15 to 20 years of service on the eastern and western transcontinental trains, on the regional service to Gaspé (Quebec) and on remote services to such points as Parent (Quebec), Churchill (Manitoba) and Prince Rupert (British Columbia). They will meet the new emission standards for railway locomotives set by the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the Railway Association of Canada, Environment Canada and Transport Canada.
• Light, Rapid and Comfortable (LRC) cars will have their operating systems and interiors rebuilt. Travellers will enjoy new seats, better lighting, computer outlets and washrooms, while VIA will lower its maintenance costs and energy requirements, thereby saving fuel and reducing emissions.
• Several stations across the country will be refurbished.
• Strategic infrastructure improvements, which will be spread throughout the Quebec City — Windsor corridor, will:
  • increase track capacity and alleviate bottlenecks;
  • improve ontime performance;
  • reduce trip times through increased speed;
  • allow for more trips; and
  • improve safety and reliability of service.

With a total investment of $516 million in capital planned over the next five years, VIA Rail’s passenger services will continue to bring modern, affordable, safe and efficient travel options to Canadians.

The government will also provide VIA with $175.9 million in additional operating funding over the next five years. While VIA Rail’s annual funding level was frozen in 1998, the effects of inflation over the past decade have had an impact on the purchasing power of this Crown corporation and its ability to maintain its aging fleet of locomotives and cars. Once the capital investment program is completed, VIA will be able to operate without this additional funding.

“Unfair Double Standard,” Canada’s Airports Decry Continued Subsidization of Via Rail

Via Rail receives millions in subsidies from the federal government while the civil aviation sector pays rent, fuel and other taxes

OTTAWA, Oct. 11 /CNW Telbec/ – The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) today decried the continued subsidization of Via Rail to the tune of nearly $692 million while Canada’s aviation sector suffers from competitiveness challenges.

“Canada’s civil aviation sector already suffers a serious competitive disadvantage to other modes of travel and airports across the border in the U.S. due to airport rent and other forms of high taxation,” said CAC President and CEO Jim Facette. “Canada’s airports generate some $30 billion in economic output and employ more than 150,000 people while facilitating international and domestic trade and tourism. To pump millions of dollars into a competitor is inexplicable.”

The statement comes after it was announced today that the federal government will provide $691.9 million in capital and operating funding to Via Rail. While shouldering the financial responsibility of more than $9.5 billion in capital improvements over the past decade, Canada’s airports pay nearly $300 million a year in the form of rent to the federal government.

In addition to rent, which is passed on to airlines and their passengers, the government burdens civil aviation with fuel excise taxes, the air traveller’s security charge and other tax and regulatory costs.

“Canada’s 100 million air travellers a year will pay nearly $300 million in rent this year while the government pours nearly $700 million to benefit Via Rail’s 4.1 million passengers,” said Mr. Facette. “This is a double standard that clearly must end.”

About the Canadian Airports Council

The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is the voice for Canada’s airports.

Its 47 members encompass more than 150 airports, including all of the National Airports System (NAS) airports and most significant municipal airports in every province and territory. Together, CAC members handle virtually all of the nation’s air cargo and international passenger traffic and 95% of domestic passenger traffic. They create well in excess of $30 billion in economic activity in the communities they serve. And more than 150,000 jobs are directly associated with CAC member airports, generating a payroll of more than $8 billion annually.

Poor infrastructure blamed for late trains: report

The Canadian Press
Updated: Sat. Oct. 20 2007

OTTAWA — If your Via Rail train rolled into the station late this summer, you weren’t alone.

Internal reports from the Crown corporation show that crumbling infrastructure has conspired against train schedules across Canada this year, delivering passengers late in almost one of every four trips.

The situation deteriorated over the late spring and summer, partly because Via’s geriatric F-40 locomotives keep breaking down.

“Via equipment failure caused delay minutes (to) increase by approximately 60 per cent from 2006 to 2007,” says the September report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Nationally, about 23 per cent of Canada’s passenger trains ran late in the May-to-July tourist period, well over Via Rail’s target of 10 per cent.

The late-train problem has gotten worse in every part of the country, including the heavily travelled corridor between Quebec City and Windsor, with four of every five Via Rail customers.

For the eastern service between Montreal and Halifax, trains were late more than 60 per cent of the time in July, largely because of “major locomotive failures.”

And for the western service between Toronto and Vancouver, on-time performance was abysmal as well.

“The average West delay severity remains extremely poor,” says the report, prepared for a recent meeting of the board of directors.

“Western Services trains arrived in Vancouver and Toronto in May, June and July 2007 an average of two hours and 42 minutes late, which represents a sizable increase over the average delay a year ago.”

But the worst service in the country appears to be along the stretch between Winnipeg and the Hudson Bay port of Churchill, Man.

In July, 10 of the 26 Via trains scheduled along the route never arrived at all. Those that did make it to their destination were four hours late on average.

Via Rail, which receives an annual federal subsidy of $170 million for its 4.1 million passengers, is not always responsible for train delays. The agency largely operates on track owned by other railways, such as CN Rail, and its passenger trains must sometimes stand down to let freight trains pass.

Freight-train derailments, track-improvement work and speed restrictions along tracks that are prone to buckling in summer heat have all caused disruptions in the schedule.

The report notes in particular that Via Rail has a “worsening relationship” with the Hudson Bay Railway or HBR, a subsidiary of Denver-based Omnitrax, which owns the track between The Pas and Churchill. Closures because of defects in the tracks, and derailments of HBR freight trains, help account for many of the late and non-arrivals.

About 4,700 passengers were also hit by delays last summer caused by native protesters blocking rail lines in Ontario.

But Via Rail’s own F-40 locomotives — 20-year-old workhorses of the system — are responsible for many of the delays. The corporation’s 54 F-40s, representing more than 70 per cent of the fleet, are at the end of their useful life.

“Regular overhauls and scheduled maintenance no longer ensure reliability nor keep maintenance costs under control,” says an internal analysis.

A spokesman acknowledged the F-40s have been a continuing headache.

“Despite concerted efforts to control those factors for which Via has direct responsibility, the reliability of Via’s locomotive fleet … has increasingly been a significant cause of delays,” said Malcolm Andrews from company headquarters in Montreal.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced $516 million in capital funding over the next five years, much of which will go to rebuild the F-40s from the ground up, giving them 15 to 20 more years’ of service. Tracks and other infrastructure will also be improved.

Quebec and Manitoba have also announced plans to improve rail infrastructure in their provinces, which will help improve on-time performance, Andrews said.

The last Conservative government in Canada prior to the current Stephen Harper government, which has been in office for just a matter of months, was the government of Kim Campbell in the early 1990s. In between, for a period of nearly 15 years, the Liberal government of Jean Cretien ruled Canada. Prime Minister Cretien appropriated additional hundreds of millions of dollars for VIA Rail Canada beyond its annual infusion of free federal monies, and then withdrew the funding, leaving VIA holding the bag. The money from Prime Minister Harper’s government replaces much of that withdrawn funding and allows VIA to move ahead with its capital programs.

Second, we see VIA’s ongoing commitment to customer/passenger service. While VIA may have its share of operating and maintenance problems, it’s a rare VIA employee who is less than polite and accommodating.

Third, VIA continually “out markets” Amtrak, always coming up with good domestic and international marketing programs which drive passengers onto trains. VIA does not make the assumption because a train is there, people will ride it. VIA works hard for each and every passenger it carries.

While Amtrak dwarfs VIA when it comes to budgets, employees, route miles, and many other factors, both are creatures of government, operating at the whim of lawmakers. Until both companies are set free from their governmental restraints and allowed to operate as for-profit companies after proper foundations are laid, both companies will be far less than perfect.