WOE CANADA.

What are the identifying features of a proper social democracy?  Long vacations?  Generous public assistance?  Mandatory parental leave from work? Health care as a "right?"  High speed intercity trains?

Oops.  "VIA equipment shortage leads to cancellations, sellouts."  That refers to troubles offering services to the Maritime Provinces and other hinterland areas, where the carrier makes do with legacy rolling stock such as Budd Rail Diesel Cars and long distance cars initially built for Channel Tunnel services.  None of that comes up to the standard of European regional rail, and most European passengers use services other than the bullet trains the casual transportation advocates carry on about.

Read on, though, and note the troubles along that thickly settled stretch of Canada along the two eastern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

The Ocean and RDC issues follow numerous VIA cancellations in the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor, attributed primarily to failures of newly acquired Siemens trainsets [see “Weather issues with Siemens equipment …,” Feb. 8, 2026]. Neither VIA nor Siemens have responded to Trains inquiries seeking details on the issues, attributed to “harsh weather conditions.” The current problems mean VIA finds itself unable to meet its commitments on all three of its forms of service: long-distance, corridor, and remote.

At the same time, Alto, the high-speed rail project, continues to conduct an elaborate, publicly funded initiative. Its proposed, largely rural right-of-way would serve corridor population centers where current service is deteriorating. Alto’s website features videos of fast trains and an “online consultation platform” to garner feedback for a route where land acquisition is not likely to begin until years of expensive consultant studies are completed.

In These United States, there is a simulacrum of a bullet train linking Boston with Washington, weather permitting, and it has to hurt when a Trains reader compares VIA Rail unfavorably with the New Haven.  "Growing up and later traveling to college, I traveled the bankrupt, decrepit, failing New Haven Railroad. There was always enough rolling stock to cover the schedules, even if the windows were broken and the upholstery worn. Sometimes there were standees in the aisles, but the trains did run."

The closest thing to a standard North American passenger train consist these days is a Siemens Charger diesel and a rake of Siemens coaches.  The Siemens stock might not be built for extreme cold.  That's probably not the best state of affairs for trains serving Canada.