VIA says it plans to quadruple number of trains from Sarnia

The Lambton Shield, June 17, 2015

VIA Rail Canada president Yves Desjardins-Siciliano was in Sarnia Wednesday to announce improvements to local train service.

Someone has been listening to a chorus of complaints from Sarnia-Lambton on the issue of rail service that has historically deteriorated to the point where people have largely found other ways to come and go, notably to Toronto.

That person’s name is Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, VIA Rail’s CEO. And he was at the Sarnia Golf & Curling Club on Wednesday to announce the Crown corporation has plans to quadruple the once-daily train service linking Sarnia to London and Toronto.

The changes are planned for 2016, but VIA has before it the task of working with its “freight partners”—notably CN—which owns the same track that will carry two-car self-propelled trains that are at the core of VIA’s expansion plans.

That may not be as easy as one might think given that demand for freight—a profitable business unlike passenger service—is expanding. Plus, passenger trains are faster than freight, which means VIA will either have to be creative with its scheduling or convince freight carriers to “play nice” when it comes to theirs.

Desjardins-Siciliano is unphased by the challenge.

VIA’s CEO spent the good part of an hour on his presentation to a group that included Chamber of Commerce members as well as members of Rail Advocacy In Lambton (RAIL), a group that has been lobbying for a reversal to a deterioration of service.

Desjardins-Siciliano admitted that much—but not all—of VIA’s declining passenger traffic, particularly in southwest Ontario has been “self-inflicted.” But he also pointed out that as improvements are forthcoming, the expectation is that passenger traffic, including those from the three markets that
VIA is targeting—students, business people and seniors—will most certainly have to increase as a result of the improved scheduling.

RAIL president Jim Houston said afterward that he was “cautiously optimistic” about what the VIA president had to say:

Desjardins-Siciliano said VIA has largely changed its attitude toward the service it provides.

“We’re not in the business of running trains,” he said. “We’re in the business of getting people to where they want to be.”

He said succeeding in a business that still loses money on every ticket it sells is about understanding how the value the service VIA provides contributes to the quality of life for all Canadians.

Desjardins-Siiliano had plans following his luncheon address to visit the VIA station in Sarnia with a view to begin an assessment of what improvements would be needed to accommodate the new schedule and, it would seem, to provide a “sprucing up” of the facility, which is no longer manned.

He refused to commit to bringing back a staffed facility, even while acknowledging that increased business may make that possible.

At the same time, he said technology advancements have reduced the need for the kind of services that previously would only be available through staff at a VIA station.