Transport Committee on Sept. 19th, 2024

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Thank you for that.

I'm just conveying my disappointment and the disappointment, I think, of Canadians and rail passengers that this thought process or protocol did not occur many years ago. It could have saved these folks 10 hours and some considerable stress, especially around the holidays.

You say that it's isolated, which diminishes it, but I talked to some of the folks from my riding about the Cobourg incident. Being stranded for 18 hours is bad enough, but when you're doing it with your kids, your grandkids, your parents and others expecting you around the holiday season, it's extremely stressful. It would be my strong suggestion, my recommendation to you, that anything above five hours is just unacceptable. We have to be able to get to people and to get them unloaded within five hours, no matter what happens.

[Mario Péloquin]

The new protocols we've put in place now will ensure that we act quickly and decisively in case of a situation where we believe—not that we know—that there's going to be a delay that is unacceptable, as it was on that day. Much earlier and much faster, we'll make decisions in real time as soon as we're aware of a situation like that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lawrence.

I'll now give the floor for five minutes to Mr. Lauzon, who is joining our committee for the first time.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm delighted to be a member of this committee for the first time.

I'll get straight to the heart of the matter.

Mr. Péloquin, you told us a number of times that Via Rail train delays or shutdowns were an ongoing issue that affected thousands of passengers every year. I'm really struck by these disruptions. A number of factors contribute to these disruptions. You spoke about bad weather conditions, for example, but also about mechanical issues and conflicts with railway companies. It's quite difficult to predict these unknown factors.

How will you integrate all these unknown factors into an action plan to address the issue?

[Mario Péloquin]

We have a great deal of experience in operating passenger trains on a mixed‑use network that covers about 20,000 kilometres. Our experience helps us to understand quite quickly and clearly what can happen on the network, and the seriousness of each possible event. Based on our experience, we can quickly determine whether service can continue within an acceptable time frame, or whether we must take measures that differ somewhat from the normal course of business.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

How are your relationships with the railway companies, such as Canadian Pacific and Canadian National? Do you maintain a close relationship with these companies in order to establish protocols, given your dependence on them?

[Mario Péloquin]

Of course, we have a close relationship with these companies. I communicate with their executives myself. Communication also takes place at other levels between people at Via Rail and people from these host railway companies. So we have quite a close relationship.

The priorities differ from company to company, but we talk about the best way to achieve a level of satisfaction that everyone can live with. The fact remains that we don't own the right‑of‑way.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

I want to talk a bit about this. For most of the territory, Via Rail doesn't own the tracks. We know that the infrastructure is aging. What's your role in this?

I know that you're in constant contact with senior officials and the minister's office. What's your role in promoting the need to invest in railways?

[Mario Péloquin]

We don't own 97% of the tracks across the territory where we operate our trains. That said, Via Rail performs quite well on the 3% of the right‑of‑way that it does own. For example, on the Montreal‑Ottawa route, around 97% of the trains run on time. We own the right‑of‑way and we control train movements and infrastructure maintenance.

In contrast, we can't really tell private companies such as Canadian National and Canadian Pacific where they should invest their track maintenance funds. That's their decision. However, we work with them to try to minimize the impact.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

One issue that you raised concerned the food on board the train. You told us that it was possible to bring pizza or other food.

If pizza could be brought to the train, could passengers have been able to leave the train? Has this been assessed?

[Mario Péloquin]

Good question.

We always assess the situation in terms of passenger safety. For example, disembarking from a train stopped on a track is complicated and difficult. We need to think about seniors and people with reduced mobility, for whom it isn't always easy to walk on the rocks along the track. Sometimes, the track is surrounded by forest. We assess all this in real time. Obviously, the easiest situation would involve a platform, a level crossing or something of that nature.

I'll let Ms. Toporowski finish answering the question.

[Rita Toporowski]

Thank you.

In this particular case, the pizzas were ordered but weren't actually delivered until we were able to move the train to a safe location, because it was not deemed to be safe to disembark the passengers at that point in time, nor would it have been a safe location for some food to be delivered. Therefore, we had to wait until—

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.

Thank you, Mr. Péloquin and Ms. Toporowski.

Before we conclude for the day, Mr. Iacono, you wanted to ask for documents to be produced, I believe.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Yes. That is correct, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Péloquin, I'm glad to hear that you've highlighted today new protocols that you intend to implement after this incident. Can you also add these to my previous requests? We'd like to see an evolution and maybe have a better analysis, so that our report can highlight that with you.

[Mario Péloquin]

I'm happy to.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

That is so noted, Mr. Iacono. We will add that to the request for the documents that we would like to have to provide to our analysts, and the clerk will get on that.

On behalf of all committee members, we want to thank our witnesses from Via Rail for joining us today.

Thank you for your time and for responding to our questions so diligently.

With that, this meeting is adjourned.