From the CH to be published Thursday, August 30th, 2012
Via Rail wants to integrate bus, rail services in Maritimes
11 hours ago
By BRETT BUNDALE Business Reporter
Via Rail president Marc Laliberte speaks at a chamber of commerce meeting in Halifax on Wednesday. (PETER PARSONS / Staff)
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UPDATED 7:11 p.m. Wednesday
In an attempt to bolster its bottom line and serve passengers better, Via Rail Canada is planning to integrate bus and rail services in the Maritimes.
Via Rail president Marc Laliberte said the passenger train company was in talks with Acadian bus lines before the coach company announced it was folding Nov. 30.
Despite the lack of an operator, Via Rail is committed to an intermodal transportation network in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“We realize that Acadian bus lines just made an announcement to cut their service, but we hope that void will be filled by somebody else,” Laliberte told The Chronicle Herald during an editorial board meeting.
“If there is a bus operator somewhere that is interested in starting a shared service, they should come to see us. We have a nice place at the Halifax train station for them.”
Prince Edward Island’s Trius Tours Ltd. and Halifax’s Ambassatours Gray Line applauded Via Rail’s focus on integrated bus and rail services.
Mike Cassidy, the owner of Trius Tours Ltd., has filed an application with the regulator in Nova Scotia to take over the regional and charter services Acadian is abandoning. He said his company will file a similar application in New Brunswick by Friday.
“There is no question in my mind that we would work with all the transportation providers in the region to provide the best level of service to passengers,” Cassidy said.
“The president of Via Rail is hitting it right on the mark. One of the steps we have to do is talk to Via and get a feel for what an integrated transportation system would look like so that when we’re in front of the board for the hearing we have that market research done and we can present that as our evidence.”
Ambassatours president Dennis Campbell said that although the chartered bus service has decided not to file an application to replace Acadian bus lines, he fully supports an integrated approach to transportation.
“I think it’s absolutely fantastic because, if you look at other parts of the world, intermodal is what it’s all about in that ... it’s all about the end-user.”
Laliberte said there is a market opportunity to develop intermodal partnerships with buses, airlines and car-sharing organizations.
Via Rail plans to integrate web ticketing, harmonize schedules and cross-promote intermodal services to simplify travel plans.
“We’d like to make travelling simpler for passengers. We want them to be able to arrange all their travel plans from one website.”
Via Rail has already formed intermodal partnerships over the past 12 months in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia with bus lines.
More recently, the passenger rail company joined forces with Air Transat to help travellers make the journey between their home, airport and vacation destination.
Air Transat and Via Rail have streamlined their service schedules to encourage the purchase of tickets combining both modes of transportation.
Laliberte said the rail company has also formed a partnership with Communauto, a car-share service in Montreal.
Via Rail would be open to talking with CarShareHFX to form a similar partnership, he said.
The passenger train company does not enter into exclusive partnership agreements, and Laliberte said partners need a level of service that compares with Via Rail.
“We’re always open to connect with multiple partners, but they need to have a certain standard of service and accessibility. Once that’s in place, we’re open to discussions.”
(bbundale@herald.ca)
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