We achieved the largest increase in ridership in years. We lowered operating costs another $3 million, and increased passenger revenue by $11 million. We reduced our operating funding to $196 million – a 41 per cent improvement over 1992, and the first time in history VIA has operated the national passenger service below the $200 million threshold.

Results like these – achieved consistently, year after year – answer one question about VIA’s future. When managed effectively, passenger rail can survive and thrive as a vital component of Canada’s transportation mix. It has a critical role to play in meeting the needs of the marketplace.

The urgent question now is not whether VIA can continue to grow, but how we will grow, given the challenges and opportunities before us. Sustainable growth will require significant changes in the way passenger rail services are funded and delivered in Canada.

The status quo is not acceptable, because it is not sustainable. If we do not invest in VIA’s future, passenger rail will wither slowly in a cycle where capital and maintenance costs creep up on aging equipment and infrastructure. We will be unable to finance new equipment, attract new customers, or respond to changing market conditions.

We can not generate the funds needed to invest in our future by simply reducing costs. While there is always room for improvement in managing expenses, there will be few opportunities for major cost-saving initiatives in the near future. VIA is now a very efficient organization, totally focused on providing the best possible service and value to our customers. We know that we can not shrink our way to success in the future, and we have no intention of reducing either the level or quality of our service.

If lowering costs is not the answer, we must look to growth as the only viable option. There are significant opportunities for growth. The growing number of people taking the train attests to the demand for an efficient, reliable passenger service, and VIA’s ability to meet that demand. As Canada looks to its future transportation needs – and the comparatively high costs of improvements in highway and air infrastructure – it is clear that passenger rail can play a vital role in the years ahead.

But VIA can not fulfill that role, or take advantage of the opportunities for growth, unless we – as a country – are ready and able to pursue new and innovative ways of delivering passenger rail services. To grow, there must be some major changes: a clear mandate for VIA Rail, an appropriate legal and corporate environment, fair access to the rail infrastructure, and access to private sector investment for new equipment.

We are at a critical watershed in VIA’s history. Government and industry experts recognize this. Throughout 1998, there undoubtedly will be significant public debate on the future of passenger rail, and the form this future will take. We need to explore new options and a new vision for the future.

VIA Rail welcomes and encourages this debate. We will contribute to the discussion with our own road map for future growth and greater self-sufficiency.We envisage a passenger rail service that is still proudly in the hands of Canadians, still stretching from coast to coast. We envisage a service that offers better products, with new equipment, new and upgraded stations, more frequencies and express services – all at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

The initiatives we launched in 1997 hint at the kind of innovative thinking that will be required. We added new trains serving Kingston and Ottawa. We introduced new intermodal services in Cobourg and Brockville. We launched a ground-breaking reservation system on the Internet. We established new partnerships with companies such as Second Cup, Amtrak, hotel chains and car rental agencies, Chambers of Commerce and business groups across Canada.

These kinds of initiatives are just a taste of what is to come. To continue to grow, we need the mandate to pursue these initiatives and the powers necessary to fulfill that mandate effectively.

We are ready and able to respond to any scenario for the future – as long as that scenario includes continued, superior service to our national network, and the growth of passenger rail.

In 1997, we completed the foundations for that growth. We started building the pillars that will support that growth in the future. We are ready to continue forging ahead – as an innovative, cost-effective, customer-focused organization, committed to providing the best passenger service in Canada.