VIA Rail

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by acottawa

That is not the usual meaning of "subsidy." In that sense almost any good or service anyone purchases is "subsidized."

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

It's a particularly odd take when talking about rail. If lack of a competition means a sector is subsidized, than passenger rail is most assuredly more subsidized than aviation.

Yes, I'm only using the loosest interpretation of the word for argument's sake.

What's important is that; if government support/subsidies/protection for both air and for rail were lowered, that would highly favour air travel vs rail. Ticket prices on domestic airlines would become lower, while rail would become effectively unviable.

That's not to say I think we shouldn't subsidise rail, just the argument needs to be made in a factual way.