MONTREAL — The CEO of VIA Rail Canada is calling for the government to adopt a bill of rights for rail passengers similar to the one already in place for air travelers.
In an interview with the Canadian Press, CEO Mario Péloquin said the government should set rules that ensure train passengers receive compensation for long delays. If the disruption is caused a freight operator, he says, they would pay that compensation, which would be an incentive for better operations. Most VIA trains operate on tracks owned by Canadian National Railway.
Péloquin also called for rules that would give VIA statutory right of preference over freight trains. Amtrak has such a right in the United States, but the Canadian government never created a similar right for VIA trains, leaving operational matters in the hands of VIA and the freight operators.
Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations spell out the obligations of airlines regarding matters such as payment for overbooking, lost luggage, and flight delays. Those regulations have been revised in the wake of widespread criticism of airlines’ failure to provide refunds for flight cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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