MONTREAL — Via Rail's on-time performance hit new lows in recent months, internal documents show, a decline the Crown corporation blames largely on Canadian National Railway Co.
Files obtained through an access to information request show that Via trains, which run mostly on CN tracks, arrived late along its Windsor-Quebec City corridor 80 per cent of the time in February and two-thirds in January.
That's a significant leap from late-arrival numbers below 30 per cent during the same two months last year.
In court filings in November, Via said that recently imposed speed restrictions on its Venture passenger trains were causing delays along its busiest corridor, affecting thousands of passengers daily. It is seeking an injunction to have the restrictions lifted.
CN responded that it implemented the new rules at rail crossings due to risks associated with similar trains.
It said in an email that safety was the chief concern behind the restrictions, which require engineers to slow down at each crossing to visually confirm the safety barrier was lowered.
"They are asking CN to gamble with safety. We will not," said spokesman Jonathan Abecassis.
Travellers are taking note of the constant delays. Passenger satisfaction "plummeted" in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a Via summary of the restrictions' effects.
"We are seeing drops in ticket sales and passengers switching from the train to other travel modes," it states.
The new rules boil down to detection of trains as they approach a crossing, a process that relies on electrical currents carried, or "shunted" through the wheels and axles beneath the cars. The 24 axles on Venture train sets fall short of the 32 CN demanded at crossings starting on Oct. 11 to ensure barriers lower, bells ding and lights flash.
"Well before the purchase of the trains by Via, CN flagged the inconsistent shunt issue with the Venture trains and reserved the right to impose restrictions should the issue arise. Via was made aware of the issue repeatedly and chose to move forward regardless," Abecassis said.
Via points out that widespread restrictions on movement through crossings only came down last fall, about two years after the first Venture train hit the tracks. CN was aware of the new arrivals, issuing a bulletin in December 2021 authorizing the Ventures to operate between Toronto and Montreal, according to Via court filings.
Via argues that the real problem lies in rail infrastructure owned by CN, which has an obligation to maintain the railroad. Via pointed to a notice issued by the country's largest railway that the Crown corporation says reveals CN's awareness of subpar tracks.
The special instruction from March 2024 states that "automatic warning devices are defective" at a crossing along a stretch of track between Quebec City and Montreal — a subdivision hosting many of the detection issues cited by CN.
CN, not Via, must make changes to allow trains to proceed through crossings more quickly, the passenger service said.
"Via did not agree that CN can, through special instructions, shift unto Via Rail's rolling stock and employees ... the responsibility of having adequate infrastructure and maintaining its equipment to ensure it complies with grade crossing safety regulations," said Nicolas Panetta, Via's director of network preparations and railway safety governance, in a December affidavit.
CN has rejected the accusation.
"CN has no interest in arbitrarily slowing Via trains down as this reduces our ability to run our trains, which power the economy," Abecassis said in an email.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
