Via Rail CEO says late trains to Halifax ‘elephant in the room’ as service modernizes

The CEO of Via Rail told a Halifax business audience on Monday that although the Crown corporation has big modernization plans for its passenger service to the Maritimes, it needs to ensure its trains run on time.In a presentation to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Mario Peloquin said the “elephant in the room” is the fact the Montreal-to-Halifax train – known as the Ocean – can’t keep its schedule.“Via owns only three per cent of the network on which we operate across Canada and we are aware that this has an impact on the Ocean’s performance,” Peloquin said. “My trains are late all the time. The Ocean doesn’t arrive on time and there’s infrastructure in New Brunswick that makes the schedule even longer.”