Why in Canada do we live in a cultural abyss when it comes to having a modern passenger rail service? I was trying to remember when I last had hope that Canada would modernize its passenger rail service and join the rest of the world. In 2000, I was excited when VIA Rail purchased 139 of the Alstom-built Nightstar passenger rail cars.1 These were originally built for an overnight train service between the UK and the mainland. Pro-rail federal Transport Minister David Collenette announced the “Renaissance (the new name for Nightstar equipment) of Passenger Rail in Canada,” which represented a $402 million influx of money for VIA. In my community it meant the addition of a second morning train into Toronto and the refurbishment of the historic railway station in Kitchener. Around 2002 VIA also announced it was purchasing a new General Electric Locomotive for its fleet. I went to the press conference in Toronto that was promoting the new locomotives. Sadly, the Renaissance funding

ST. THOMAS - He’ll still keep his red Liberal hat close by, but after last Thursday’s provincial vote in which he finished third in Elgin-Middlesex-London, he has donned his SWEA ball cap and is ready to go to bat for Southwestern Ontario. And a top priority likely will have him adding a classic, blue-striped engineer’s hat to his collection. As president of the Southwest Economic Alliance (SWEA) — a partnership of local governments, educators, and the public and private sector players whose mandate is to boost the region’s economy — he plans to get in the face of the Liberal government to live up to their promise of high-speed passenger rail service to London — what he calls a “game-changer” for the region. http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/2014/06/18/failed-liberal-candidate-serge-lavoie-vows-to-hold-liberals-to-promise-of-high-speed-rail

Wish I was going to school here!. Four towns and cities across England have been shortlisted to become home to a new national college to train engineers working on the HS2 rail link. Either Derby, Doncaster, Birmingham or Manchester will host the National College for High Speed Rail, the government has announced. It will work alongside several smaller training centres across the country, a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesman said. READ MORE

As our federal government slowly allows the demise of cross boarder rail service, (Windsor/Detroit, Sarnia/PortHuron, Fort Erie/Buffalo RIP) the city of Niagara Falls New York is building a brand new international passenger rail terminal. WATCH VIDEO It is hopeful this station will improve the local area and get increased passenger rail service. Currently only one train the Maple Leaf travels through the area and that trains is notoriously slow taking a minimum of 9 hours. On the USA side track infrastructure improvements are being made and more are being planned . On the Canadian side the federal government is definitely not on board. In 2012, the Harper Tories cut Niagara Falls VIA Rail service down to one train. A recent article on the obstacles in place preventing GO Rail service from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Toronto highlights some of same the issues that VIA Rail/Amtrak would have if they ever decided to increase rail service. Congratulations to Niagara Falls NY for havi