Fall 2001
Volume 108 - No. 3
Fall 2001
Volume 108 - No. 3
BLE Focus
VIA Rail Canada
Similar to Amtrak's 30-year struggle in the U.S., its northern counterpart strives to meet government subsidies and stay afloat.
VIA Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation, created in 1976. VIA operates trains in all regions of Canada over a network stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to the Hudson Bay.
In many ways, VIA Rail's story is similar to that of its counterpart to the south. Over the past decade - faced with a dramatic 60 percent cut in government funding - VIA reduced operating costs, while, at the same time maintaining a commitment to customer service. VIA exercised financial controls and used innovative marketing techniques to succeed as a transportation company in Canada.
Unlike Amtrak, VIA is backed by a stable, long-term government funding commitment to passenger rail. Like Amtrak, there is increasing market demand. With its five-year, $400 million capital investment plan, VIA has now launched a true renaissance of passenger rail in Canada.
VIA's trains connect Canadian communities across a 14,000 kilometer network from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the Great Lakes, with intercity, transcontinental trains, and services into remote rural and northern regions of the country. VIA often travels on tracks owned by other railroads.
VIA operates 460 trains weekly, serving about 450 communities across Canada. In 1999, VIA trains carried more than 3.8 million passengers, covering almost 950 million passenger miles. VIA employs about 3,000 people, and its operations contribute about $1.8 billion annually to Canada's gross domestic product.
Over the past decade, VIA Rail faced the challenge of meeting progressive, permanent funding reductions, initiated by the federal government as part of the overall drive to reduce the federal deficit. VIA met this challenge without cutting a single train service - eliminating more than a quarter of a billion dollars from its annual funding requirement, while maintaining and improving passenger rail service in all parts of Canada.
VIA Rail and the BLE
Unlike other railroads, VIA Rail is a "conductorless" railway, according to General Chairman John Tofflemire. There are two locomotive engineers in every cab. These two employees are responsible for all operating duties. A special radio communication system is used to communicate with and supervise on-board personnel while en route. The only employees within the body of the train are the customer service attendants reporting to a service manager.
The majority of VIA's approximately 320 BLE members are concentrated in the corridor between Windsor, Ontario and Quebec City, Quebec. This is VIA's primary operating region and there are about 200 BLE members working there. The rest of the members are engaged in transcontinental and remote service operations.
The BLE members on VIA Rail have an average of 25-30 years of service, according to Tofflemire. The railway has a transfer agreement with Canadian National in order to replenish its employees upon retirement.
VIA Rail and the BLE are in the middle of contract negotiations. VIA is seeking to modify the rest rules for locomotive engineers and Tofflemire characterizes the issue as "a cannonball."
"VIA is demanding that the union agree to take away the locomotive engineers' right to be the judge of his or her own condition," said Tofflemire. "Passenger rail is a high-speed operation where engineers are scheduled to operate in excess of 600 miles per day in some cases. The stress and fatigue levels are high as these trips are experienced at break-neck speeds requiring intense concentration and focus. The collective agreement rights of a locomotive engineer to book off for rest as required must be maintained.
"Our relationship with VIA is at best difficult and abnormal," Tofflemire continued. "A lot of plans are developed and implemented without any contact with the union beforehand, which has resulted in a lot of ups and downs over the years. We are still in court over our last contract when they 'suddenly' decided to eliminate the craft of conductor."
The BLE members on VIA Rail last held a strike in 1995 over the change from a mileage based pay system to an hourly rate system. CN and CP went on strike as well over other issues.
"The result was that VIA was forced into arbitration and a judge awarded the national contract," said Tofflemire.
© 2001 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers