Plans to curtail Via Rail service are running into some organized resistance in New Brunswick.
With intercity bus service already in jeopardy, community leaders are trying to rally support to keep the trains running through rural areas.
The mayors of Riverview, Dieppe and Moncton rallied to preserve passenger rail service in the area today, after Via Rail announced plans to reduce its runs by half, essentially shutting off remote areas of New Brunswick.
The company says the move is an attempt to modernize and improve overall rail service.
“It’s hard to accept the premise that these cuts could be somehow an improvement for this area of the country,” says Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc.
About 134,000 passengers used the service through northern New Brunswick’s ocean run last year, while 17,000 used it last month alone.
“The Ministry of Transport and Via would have us believe that numbers are declining,” says Ted Bartlett, vice-president of Transport Atlantic. “In Via’s own annual report, it shows a five per cent increase between 2010 and 2011 on the ocean run.”
Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre fears Greater Moncton’s educational institutions would suffer without a rail link to areas like Miramichi and Campbellton, especially after Acadian Lines announced a plan to pull its buses off Maritime roads.
“If there was a reduction in service of rail and they can’t get here and get back, they may make other decisions when it comes to pursuing their education,” says Lapierre. ‘
A series of five town hall style meetings will take place across the province, starting in Moncton and finishing in Edmundston, a community that lost its passenger rail service 22 years ago.
“This is a great opportunity for everybody to get the information about what really is happening and why,” says Riverview Mayor Ann Seamans.
Other Maritime cities are holding their own meetings on the issue. The first one will be held in Halifax on Sept. 24.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
