Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
VIA is a political mess. I say ditch every single line outside the Corridor as none of them make any economic sense save the Atlantic which perhaps could run in the summer months. If VIA was to cancel all non-Corridor route tomorrow no one in Western Canada would even notice and fewer even care.
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Well, then you don't care about tourism. That is the market for rail service in the west at the present time.
I am making a trip to Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg specifically to take in the rail experience. If we abandoned rail as you are suggesting, I would be spending my tourist dollars elsewhere. I am not going to those cities specifically as a destination, at least, not on this trip. My ultimate destination is Chicago. Without rail, my trip would have only been to Chicago.
Furthermore, we are reaching the point where access to our National Parks is getting too congested by automobiles.
We have already eliminated Greyhound, now you want eliminate VIA. I think this is not very forward thinking when the only way to contain congestion into our National Parks is by improving rail and buses.
It would be a big mistake to cancel rail altogether. It would be even more difficult to bring it back if studies suggest that rail might be a solution at some point in the future.
But don't forget about tourists, the tens of thousands who come every year to Canada for the rail experience. How much money are these tourists injecting into the Canadian economy? These tourists are spending more and staying longer than your average tourist.