On Feb. 19, the Liberal Party of Canada announced that they are awarding the high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City to a private consortium led by one of Canada's biggest pension funds, Caisse de Depot et Placement and Montreal-based engineering company AtkinsR茅alis Group.

鈥淚鈥檓 gravely concerned the privatization of passenger rail on the Toronto-Quebec City corridor will spell the demise of VIA Rail, especially for rural communities,鈥� said Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach.

鈥淐urrently, the corridor generates over 90 percent of VIA鈥檚 revenue. Once this is handed over to a private partner, VIA will be tasked with operating its remaining long-distance routes in the rest of Canada with a small fraction of its previous revenue.鈥� 

Bachrach asked passenger rail experts, if this privatization scheme goes ahead, where would that leave routes like the Skeena?

"They told me very bluntly that the government would end up cutting service and eventually eliminating it on some of the lower traffic long distance routes. Of course, the government won't confirm that, but just looking at the numbers, it's hard to imagine how VIA Rail would continue to persist with so much of their revenue handed over to the private sector."

"I talked to so many people who are hanging on to this vision of passenger rail being a viable everyday transportation option in our region, and it would be really nice to have a federal government that shares that vision," he said. "The train is a great way to travel, and there are a lot of ways that the service we have to be improved, but it requires vision and requires leadership and it requires investors." 

He also believes increasing the capacity and revenue from the Toronto-Quebec corridor to invest in the rest of Canada's trial network.

As the NDP鈥檚 transportation critic, Bachrach has been critical of the Liberals' plan to privatize development and operation of the corridor for years. Along with pushing back against this plan, he and the NDP are advocating for high speed rail to be built publicly by VIA Rail so that the profit gained can go towards improving the rail system across the country.

"If high speed rail can turn a profit for big corporations, it can turn a profit for VIA Rail," he said. "That money could be driven back into improving services in places like northwest B.C., northern Manitoba, Atlantic Canada and all of the places that have these long distance, rural routes."

For Bachrach, it's important that high speed rail be built publicly and not privately.

"Connecting Canada's biggest cities and rural areas is a great idea, but it's also about the approach and how we ensure that it's being done for the public good, not private profit.