Via Rail: Difference between revisions

 

===Background===

Yearly passenger levels on Canada's passenger trains peaked at 60 million during [[World War II]]. Following the war the growth of air travel and the personal automobile caused significant loss of [[mode share]] for Canada's passenger train operators. By the 1960s it was obvious to both [[Canadian National Railway]] (CN) and the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CP) that passenger trains were not economically viable in the current market. The CP sought to divest itself of its trains but federal government regulators and politicians balked, forcing the CP to maintain a minimal service through the 1970s, with the government subsidizing up to 80% of losses. CN, being a [[Crown corporation]] at that time, was encouraged by the federal government and political interests to invest in passenger trains. Innovative marketing schemes such as ''Red, White, and Blue'' fares, new equipment such as scenic [[dome car]]s and [[Budd Rail Diesel Car|rail diesel car]]s, and services such as [[Rapido (passenger train)|Rapido]] and the [[UAC TurboTrain]] trains temporarily increased numbers of passengers, reversing previous declines.<ref name="nelligan">{{cite book | title=VIA Rail Canada: The first five years | first=Tom | last=Nelligan | publisher=[[Passenger Train Journal|PJT Publishing]] | year=1982 | isbn=0-937658-08-1}}</ref>{{rp|4–5}}