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Empire State Passengers Association president Gary Prophet made a visit to Canada by rail on the first weekend of June 2025, taking the Adirondack from New York to Montreal, and rode VIA Rail’s corridor services to Toronto and Windsor before returning to the United States via Niagara Falls.
Transport Action president Terry Johnson joined Gary Prophet for the southwestern Ontario leg of the trip, riding to Windsor on VIA Rail’s heritage stainless steel equipment, built by the Budd company for US railroads in the 1940s and purchased by Canada in 1990 after being retired by Amtrak.
Gary shared ESPA’s insights into the performance of Amtrak’s Adirondack and Maple Leaf services and opportunities for improvement, which include sharing Transport Action’s desire to see our two nations construct the long-discussed border preclearance facility in Montreal which would shave hours off Adirondack operating times and allow the extension of the Vermonter back to Montreal.
Both organisations also share as desire to see Canada Border Services Agency staff move into the new Amtrak station in Niagara Falls, opened in 2016, which was designed and built with the intent of being a joint clearance facility. Although preclearance is infeasible for the Maple Leaf route, the sheltered high level platform and modern facilities would make the border process faster and less arduous for passengers with luggage.
Meeting in Windsor provided the opportunity to see where Amtrak’s proposed border facility would be located, alongside the existing Windsor station in Walkerville, and to discuss the city’s long-term vision to reroute passenger service to the CPKC alignment with a new station near the tunnel and university campus, which would then allow border formalities to be moved to the US side using the Michigan Central site in Detroit.
Other shared concerns between US and Canadian rail advocates were discussed, including Canadian National’s dispatching of passenger services and grade crossing activation issues, and it was agreed that continuing to collaborate on projects that support long-term social and economic ties between the border states and Canadian provinces is crucial despite the current trade dispute and political differences between Ottawa and Washington.
Terry Johnson also presented Gary Prophet with a copy of People Moving People – The History of VIA Rail Canada.