Canada and its limited train expansion due to CN and CPKC
Alto just announced that the high speed train will very unlikely reach the Gare du Palais in downtown Quebec city, and one of its reason is the CN train system that owns the railways. It is also likely the CN train system is the reason Ottawa and Toronto might face the same issue. Other important reasons are also at play. In Canada, the industrial train companies like CN and CPKC have priorities over Canada's already thin railway system, and often have precedents over transit system and even VIARAIL. This often impedes large scale development of our transit systems
In Toronto, the expansion and frequencies of its GO train is impeded by the priority that CN holds over rails existing in the GTA. In Vancouver, the West Coast Express only operates toward downtown during the morning and to the suburbs during afternoon rush hour because the CPKC owns the rails.
VIARAIL trains often have to wait aside for a CN trains to pass for the same reason. CN also imposed a speed restriction on their recent trains for security reason. If we want better transit system in Canada, the lack of available rails owned by VIARAIL and transit system needs to be addressed.
