(Halifax) via Rail wishes to use refurbished cars to improve the service between Halifax and Montreal, but the president and chief executive officer of the Crown Company cannot say if this will increase the frequency of trains on the line.
Mario Péloquin made these comments during an interview Tuesday after a ceremony celebrating the restoration of Via Gare in Halifax, at the cost of 27 million. He also recalled that last year marked the 120e Anniversary of the ocean, the traveler train connecting Montreal to Halifax, inaugurated in July 1904.
Ottawa has undertaken to renew the entire Canadian Park in Via Rail within ten years. However, in the meantime, Mr. Péloquin indicates that it is planned to refurbish the cars in stainless steel currently withdrawn from service in center of Canada to use them in the Atlantic region. The cars, originally manufactured in 1954 by the late Budd Company of Philadelphia, could be modernized and sent to Halifax as soon as they are available, he said.
Photo Darren Calabresse, Canadian Press
Mario Péloquin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail
“As soon as we have released one of these cars (Budd), we will reallocate it to the long -distance segments where we can get the most out of it,” said the chief executive.
Some new cars will run on the Ocean line, while others, he said, will be sent to the Churchill line, which connects Winnipeg to Churchill (Manitoba), or the Skeena line, between Jasper (Alberta) and Prince Rupert (British Columbia).
Ted Bartlett, former president of the Action Atlantic Transport Rights Defense Group, said in an email that he hoped that there would be enough cars refurbished to increase the service on the ocean. This 1340 kilometers line is currently only circulating three times a week.
“The ocean should not have to wait long years before new cars were designed and built to find some of his glory of yesteryear,” wrote Mr. Bartlett.
In the meantime, Mr. Péloquin said that via Rail would very much like to increase the frequency of the Halifax-Montréal line, but that he is unaware if possible, because the CN could lack places on its increasingly busy lines of goods. Via Rail is based on the CN rail network for almost all of its journeys.
“We would like a lot […] But the constraint lies in obtaining additional time slots […] The increase in goods traffic leaves less time for the circulation of trains (travelers). It is a constant discussion. We try, ”added Mr. Péloquin.
A CN spokesperson indicated in an email that adding trains via on its lines “would be the subject of negotiations between Via and the CN”.
Mr. Bartlett explained in an interview that the reliability of the ocean is also a problem, because the service is slow and often late. Ottawa, he added, must play a leading role by concluding an agreement with the CN to modernize the tracks and replace the avoidance routes that have been removed over the years in northeast New Brunswick.
Mr. Péloquin recognized that “we unfortunately undergo delays quite regularly on long distance journeys, including on the ocean”.
The modernization of the neo-Brunswickian section of the line, said the CEO, would be “a very good idea”.
However, Mr. Péloquin said there was no final cost for the improvements to the CN line. “These are at least hundreds of millions of dollars, but I have no figures yet, because the discussions are not yet advanced enough. »»
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Transport stressed that Ottawa was only committed recently to make major investments to renew the Via Rail fleet.
“With this important modernization in progress, the emphasis remains on the maximization of the advantages of the new fleet before considering other investments in infrastructure or modifications of service,” wrote Sau Sau Liu in an email.
Mr. Péloquin said that the advertisements of contracts won for new locomotives and cars will be made at the start of next year.