VIA Rail, Canada’s national passenger operator, achieved an 8.3% increase in revenue to $C 96.2m ($US 70.2m) in the first quarter of 2025 despite a severe drop in punctuality due to “significant operational challenges.”
Punctuality fell from 72% from in the first quarter of 2024 to just 30% in the same period this year. Via Rail says this “is largely due to arbitrary operational restrictions imposed by CN” on the Québec City - Montreal - Toronto - Windsor corridor, leading to longer journey times and reduced reliability. As a result, ridership dropped by 2.7% to 944,300, which Via Rail says is the first such decline since the recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic began.
The speed restrictions are concerned with loss of shunt (LoS) problems in track circuits which have also affected Amtrak trains operating on CN’s US network.
LoS is brief deactivation of track circuits, including those that activate level crossing protection devices, while a train is occupying a signalling block section. This can occur due to various factors including insufficient wheel/rail electrical contact, especially with lighter or shorter trains, such as those operated with Siemens Venture coaches and Charger diesel-electric locomotives used by both Via Rail and Amtrak.
Amtrak trains operating on CN tracks in the United States have faced LoS problems that can affect grade crossing activation. To ensure proper shunt, CN has required Amtrak to use heavier Superliner double-deck coaches and/or trains with sufficient axles on certain routes, especially Chicago - Carbondale. Amtrak and CN have implemented various solutions, such as the installation of onboard shunt enhancement (OSE) devices on Amtrak locomotives and driving trailers.
CN has restricted train length and speed, requiring a minimum of 30 axles and maximum speeds ranging from 96km/h to 112km/h on some routes to ensure proper shunt. CN imposed similar axle-count requirements and speed restrictions on Via Rail’s Venture trains, citing LoS problems.
In a statement on June 4 to IRJ’s sister magazine, Railway Age, CN spokesperson Ashley Michnowski said that CN “is disappointed that Via continues to refuse to assume responsibility for the choice it made when it purchased the same equipment [Siemens Venture coaches and Charger locomotives] that had been recognised by industry experts to experience the same safety-related shortcomings [as Amtrak].
“CN has zero interest in arbitrarily slowing Via trains, as this impacts entire corridors at a time [including CN freight operations]. Safety over service, always. Ensuring proper train-to-signal interaction protects passengers, railway workers pedestrians and motorists. Via has been aware of the solution for a long time but has refused to make the necessary adjustments to their Venture fleet to ensure the safety of passengers, employees, motorists and pedestrians, forcing CN to act. We will not compromise on safety, ever.”
Via Rail, however, disagrees. “We want to reassure our passengers that Via Rail’s operations are safe and fully compliant with all regulatory requirements,” says Via Rail’s president and CEO Mario Péloquin. “The service disruptions we are experiencing are the direct result of infrastructure restrictions imposed by CN, restrictions that we believe are arbitrary and unnecessary. We have formally appealed this situation in court while continuing to engage with Transport Canada with a goal of finding a resolution that restores reliable, efficient service to the millions of Canadians who depend on passenger rail.”
“CN’s restrictions have severely impacted our ability to fulfil our public service mandate,” adds Via Rail chair Jonathan Goldbloom. “On-time performance has plummeted; customer satisfaction has eroded and confidence in passenger rail is being undermined. We will never compromise on safety and remain committed to working with our partners to put an end to this unsustainable and unjustified situation.”
The US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has been involved in addressing the LoS problem and has provided funding for projects like OSE device installation.
On October 17 2023, Amtrak petitioned the FRA for a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of federal railroad safety regulations. Amtrak sought approval to install a shunt enhancer antenna on its Siemens Charger SF4 locomotives designed to improve track circuit shunting and reduce the potential for an LoS incident. Amtrak explained that under conditions of worn wheels and dynamic profiles, “the mechanical and electrical hardware of the bogie-mounted antenna devices could protrude below 63mm from the top of rail.” FRA’s Railroad Safety Board granted the petition with conditions in September 2024.
According to the FRA, known causes of LoS include contaminants on the wheel or rail and locomotive weight, with contributing factors including the number of axles in a train, train speed, wheel profile and weather. FRA said it recognises that an LoS event is “a significant safety concern, resulting in activation failures at equipped level crossings and false proceed signals.”
An industry-led working group, the LoS Committee, supported by FRA, “has expended significant effort and funding to investigate LoS events, evaluate LoS causes, identify potential solutions, and to test those solutions,” FRA said last year. “The shunt enhancer antenna has been identified, tested and recommended” by the LoS Committee, which has confirmed that the shunt enhancer antenna reliably demonstrate[s] improvement of a vehicle’s interaction with the wayside track circuits.”
