Editorial Cuts to VIA are long overdue

The dream when the railways were built in the 1860s had to do with uniting a country. The fact that a railway was involved was secondary. In fact, the graft and scandal arising from the railway construction in the second half of the nineteenth century became more of a nightmare for taxpayers than a national dream.

What is perhaps most ironic about opposition to passenger service cutbacks in 1989 is that those who are complaining today probably would have been the most vocal of opponents when massive amounts of public funding were spent on building the railroads in the first place.

What seems to be forgotten in this emotional debate, national dream or national nightmare, is that the railway’s real role has been one of moving freight. Moving is little more than a money- losing luxury. With busses, airplanes and particularly the automobile, passenger rail has become an anachronism that just doesn’t make sense.

That 97% of the population should subsidize the other 3% to the tune of $645 million a year so that they might travel by train rather than other means is ludicrous. Even with these cuts, VIA will continue to drain several hundred million dollars a year from the national treasury during the 1990s.

“In some cases, it would be cheaper to provide service by helicopter,” Transport Minister Benoit Bouchard said after announcing the cuts.

No one relishes the idea of laying off 2,700 or of reducing services. But even when these cuts are put into effect, the railways will still be handling virtually the same amount of traffic as they do today. That’s because by far the greatest portion of rail traffic is freight. It is those bonds of commerce that unite the country, not a declining rail service that relies on government handouts.

Perhaps the Royal commission established by the federal government to examine all aspects of transport in the country will make some recommendations on how to rationalize provincial constraints on freight transport. If so, some constructive debate might ensue on how to improve transportation in the country rather than prolonging this pointless shouting match over a doomed VIA Rail.

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