Transport committee  Thank you to the member for his question. As I explained a little earlier, the new Via HFR — Via TGF Inc. Crown corporation is handling all the segment and route analyses and will determine how the rail operation will ultimately be structured. Our role is simply one of support,

Transport committee  Thank you to the member for his question. The short answer is no, because the new Crown corporation in charge of the HFR project is also handling that part of the equation. We are planning to turn over the services being provided in the current corridor to the new organization.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for his question. As I mentioned a little earlier, any service enhancements will boost the economy and ridership. Studies conducted just about everywhere have shown that if you provide people with good and reliable service between two cent

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for his question. An efficiently operating train is much greener than any other mode of transportation between the same centres. Attracting more people to travel by train would be beneficial to the environment.

Transport committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. Canada is a great country, but we also have some of the harshest climates anywhere in the world, as far as operating trains at higher speed is concerned or even at the speeds we are going today. There are a lot of examples of high-speed, h

Transport committee  We are in discussions all the time with our colleagues at Amtrak. They have a desire to offer more services across the border. The answer to your first question is, absolutely. On your second question, more service to more Canadians, whether it's high speed or high frequency, is

Transport committee  I talked a couple of times about my vision for Via Rail. When I'm talking about sustainability and doing more, I mean that in a way that is all-inclusive, so complete mobility is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Bringing a person to a station where they cannot go

Transport committee  I'd like to thank the member for his question, Mr. Chair. They are not incompatible. What I want is for Via Rail to provide truly reliable and diversified services that are good for the Canadian economy and the environment. That means providing as many services as possible to pe

Transport committee  I can't really speak to the numbers that the Via Rail HFR team has analyzed and developed. At a high level, I can say that a train is much more carbon emissions-efficient than an airplane or the 250 cars, approximately, that you would need to travel the same distance. There's a

Transport committee  I would like to refer that question to my chief service delivery officer.

Transport committee  As you rightly pointed out, railroading in Canada was country building. It helped link the west to what we today call central Canada. There has been economic development from those days in the late 1800s, when the transcontinental was built. The eventual arrival of a high-frequ

Transport committee  Look, my vision for Via Rail is to continue to provide, and hopefully increase, an affordable, accessible, environmentally friendly, sustainable and diverse service across Canada. The fact that the corridor is going to look different than it does today doesn't impact what my visi

Transport committee  Well, if we just look south of the border to our neighbours, they do have rules in place that prioritize passenger trains over freight trains.

Transport committee  The subsidy levels for operating Via Rail are quite complex, because we operate a real mix of services on different routes. It is a complex issue. We can certainly look at our annual reports and provide that information.

Transport committee  I believe the arrival of HFR will not really change the way we operate the long-distance and regional parts of the railway; therefore, I can't predict that there's going to be much of an impact on the level of subsidies. The way we operate at Via Rail today is that we look, finan