Mr. Chairman, members of the committee and members of Parliament, good morning.
On behalf of my Via Rail Canada colleagues, it my pleasure to speak to you today about the action we have taken, the progress we are continuously making and our overall safety record.
Safety is by far the most fundamental component of our operation. Our passion for travelling by train and the development of the rail passenger industry are intimately linked to our dedication to mitigating risk, improving our performance, and demonstrating to our clients and the public that train travel is reliable and the safest means of travel in Canada.
In this regard, we have performed very well over the past five years. My colleague Jean will present an overview of our action plan related to safety. She'll be followed by Denis, who will explain how a strong safety culture and sound governance practices have become the foundation of what we do. Denis will also say a few words about our initiatives and investments that have contributed to improving our performance.
Allow me first to say a few words about who we are and the particular operational environment in which we oversee safety. Almost four million passengers travel every year on board one of our trains across our 12,500 kilometres of network. We operate over 500 departures per week to hundreds of destinations, through remote areas such as Churchill or Prince Rupert, and in the popular Quebec-Windsor corridor.
We also offer two long distance trains that run east and west: the Ocean and the Canadian.
Our trains travel through 450 communities. Further, there are thousands of ties, crossings, bridges and tunnels that are located in places where sometimes only a train can get through, and this often happens in vary challenging weather conditions.
The context in which we operate is particular for two reasons: first, because our network runs across the country's unique geography and changing landscape; second, because 98% of the railroad we use is owned by the freight industry. Only 255 kilometres of the railway we roll on—located between Coteau and Smiths Falls—belongs to VIA. We therefore have to mitigate the risks associated with our operations without owning the railroad on which we travel. We must share the responsibility for prevention, track surveillance, and risk management. Despite these challenges, train travel is safer today than it was when I started my career 36 years ago.
I'll now welcome Jean Tierney to talk about some of the highlights of our safety programs.