Private Investors and Desjardins-Siciliano

Rail passengers: Via Rail hopes to raise $3 billion from private investors in order to build dedicated passenger tracks between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, according to CTV. The company says the long-standing practice of sharing infrastructure with freight trains has hurt its ridership, which has been eroding in recent years. Demographic factors such as the pro-environment values of millennials, the growing number of seniors with mobility issues and an influx of immigrants from countries where train culture is prevalent make it a good time to boost passenger service, Desjardins-Siciliano said Thursday. "Young Canadians -- millennials -- have a green heart," he said. The number of Via Rail passengers declined to 3.8 million last year from 4.1 million in 2010, according to the company financial statements that included a $317.1-million operating loss last year. But Desjardins-Siciliano said he doesn't foresee the company going private. "I think Via Rail will always be a public service company, because we're servicing Canada, and you'll always have routes that can't sustain themselves," he said during an interview following his speech. Desjardins-Siciliano says that by doubling the frequency of service along that route, Via could triple its ridership. "If you add frequency, you add availability and convenience -- and you automatically add ridership," Desjardins-Siciliano said. "But if we don't own the tracks we can't add frequency as we wish." Higher ridership would boost the line profitability and could help subsidize other, less profitable routes, ultimately reducing the extent to which taxpayers foot the railway bills, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.