VIA Rail taking CN to Canadian Transportation Agency

VIA Rail has taken a case (Number: 23-28548) before the Canada Transportation Agency against Canadian National under clause 152.1 of the Canada Transportation Act.

Public Passenger Service Providers

Dispute Resolution

• 152.1 (1) Whenever a public passenger service provider and a railway company are unable to agree in respect of any matter raised in the context of the negotiation of any agreement concerning the use of the railway company’s railway, land, equipment, facilities or services by the public passenger service provider or concerning the conditions, or the amount to be paid, for that use, the public passenger service provider may, after reasonable efforts to resolve the matter have been made, apply to the Agency to decide the matter.
• (2) Whenever a public passenger service provider and a railway company are unable to agree in respect of any matter raised in the context of the implementation of any matter previously decided by the Agency, either the public passenger service provider or the railway company may, after reasonable efforts to resolve the matter have been made, apply to the Agency to decide the matter.

Canada Transportation Act 2007, c. 19, s. 44

No details of the application made by VIA Rail nor CN’s response are public at this time, but based on statements in previous VIA Rail annual reports and corporate plans about track access and on-time (under)performance on host railways, this case is probably an seeking adjudication of the renewal of the entire Train Service Agreement governing VIA Rail’s access to the CN network and its ability to operate the vast majority of its passenger network.

The outcome of this case will no doubt be an important test of the strength of the Canada Transportation Act’s provisions for passenger operators, and may set precedents that apply to other operators and projects including the Calgary-Banff proposal, GO Milton, Alberta commuter rail, the West Coast Express, existing Indigenous rail services, and proposals like the reinstatement of the Mask-wa Oo-ta-ban (Algoma Bear Train).

Last year, VIA Rail’s President and CEO Mario Péloquin called upon the federal government to provide passenger trains with right of way over freight and to advance passenger rights legislation for rail passengers, backed by responsibilities for both VIA Rail and its host railways, which is a position that Transport Action Canada supports. On a recent trip from Toronto to Vancouver, Mario Péloquin also experienced the dysfunctionality of the current arrangements first hand, when the westbound Canadian was delayed for many hours at Uno, Manitoba as freight trains were prioritized to clear congestion after an earlier freight train breakdown.

Transport Action Canada will be submitting a position statement to the Canadian Transportation Agency emphasizing the importance of frequent train service and of reliable on-time performance to passengers; of passenger rail service to Canada’s prosperity; and that passengers are also people who make, mine, farm, design, market, ship, deliver and buy all the commodities and goods that travel by rail.

Note: In the picture above, VIA train 73 to Windsor was running more than half an hour late because the CN train had been stopped in a position that obstructed the meet with eastbound train 76.