6 Rail Transportation

PASSENGER TRAFFIC

As seen in Addendum Table A6-29, total passengers carried and passenger-kilometres for intercity rail traffic increased by 1.4 per cent in 2001 from 2000. The number of VIA Rail passengers increased by 1.8 per cent to 3.9 million and passenger-kilometres increased by 1.9 per cent to 1.5 billion. Class II carriers with intercity services included in Addendum Table A6-29 are Algoma Central, BC Rail, Ontario Northland and the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway. Unlike VIA Rail, these carriers experienced a combined 2.2 per cent decrease to 0.35 million passengers and a 5.8 per cent decrease in passenger-kilometres to 88 million. These values are expected to decrease again in 2002 due to BC Rail's decision to drop services on its passenger routes.

The Great Canadian Railtour Company provides a seasonal rail passenger service between Vancouver, Calgary and Jasper. Also, the U.S. passenger rail corporation, Amtrak, provides service to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver in cooperation with VIA Rail.

Commuter rail traffic in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver increased 7 per cent, reaching 50 million passengers in 2002. This change reflects an increase in Toronto's GO Transit and Montreal's Agence Métropolitaine de Montréal (AMT) riderships. Once again, GO Transit represented 70 per cent of commuter rail traffic. Addendum Table A6-30 shows total commuter rail ridership since 1994 for these three cities.

Major Events in 2002

Infrastructure

Industry Structure

Employment

Energy

Freight Transportation

Passenger Traffic

Price, Productivity and Financial Performance