QUESTION PERIOD — Transport
VIA Rail
June 15, 2026
Senator Moreau, this is a question about the proposed Alto high-speed rail.
The government promotes Alto as the future of passenger rail, but Canadians continue to face high fares, limited service and frequent delays, today, on VIA Rail. In the corridor, VIA trains regularly run behind schedule because they must yield to freight traffic. For example, only five trains per day operate between Ottawa and Montreal, leaving Canadians with few rail options and lots of delays.
If this government wants Canadians to embrace passenger rail, must it not first address the shortcomings of the service used today? Why has the government not committed to increasing VIA Rail service in the corridor, ensuring passenger trains receive greater priority?
Why do you think that our government is not working with VIA Rail? Alto is one future project. VIA Rail is the actual provider of rail transportation. The government continues to work closely with VIA Rail and other partners to address technical issues and ensure that incidents or malfunctions are managed quickly and efficiently and to make sure that VIA Rail can improve its services.
Rail transportation is a serious issue, and the government is working with VIA Rail on a regular basis to make sure that we can improve their services.
This supplementary question is about affordability, in particular for young people who use the corridor extensively. VIA has adopted this dynamic pricing that we see with airlines as well, so now we’re hearing about young people who cannot travel home and cannot respond to emergencies because the dynamic pricing is moving the cost to over $200.
I’m not aware of the fares at VIA Rail. I could have a look at it and get back to you on that.
My understanding is that there are fares for first class or regular class. I don’t know if there’s a dynamic situation concerning fares on trains, but I will get the information and get back to you.
