Canada has a Bill of Rights for airline passengers. What about train passengers?

A 10-hour delay on a Via Rail train in Quebec over the long weekend is raising questions about rail passenger rights in Canada — or lack thereof.

Passengers on a train from Montreal to Quebec City were stranded without food, water and working toilets when their train broke down after two consecutive mechanical problems. The power and air conditioning were also turned off at times for repairs.

In an interview, Via Rail CEO Mario Péloquin apologized for “all the inconvenience caused” and said the company will refund the full amount to those affected.

However, travellers say staff failed to handle the situation properly and that compensation for the 14-hour ordeal falls short of what they are entitled to.

The situation raises concerns about the rights of Canadian rail passengers during long delays. For some, it underscores the need to provide legal protections for these travelers, similar to those available to airline passengers.

No passenger rights legislation for train passengers

Unlike air passengers, there are no passenger rights in Canada that protect rail passengers. This means that Via Rail customers whose journeys are disrupted are only entitled to compensation or assistance that the company decides to provide.

Meanwhile, since 2019, flyers have been protected by a set of rules, often referred to as air passenger rights. The regulations require airlines to meet certain standards of treatment and compensation, including timely updates on flight statuses and up to $1,000 for delays of nine hours or more within the airline’s control.

Via Rail says on its website that it offers a travel credit of 50 percent of the economy fare price for a delay of one to four hours, and 100 percent for a delay of more than four hours for trips along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. There is a complex list of measures for exceptional circumstances.

In the case of Train 622 last weekend, where stranded passengers were transferred to another locomotive after 10 a.m., the Crown corporation offered a cash refund equal to the price of the passengers’ one-way ticket. A travel credit was also provided for a future trip.

Passengers told CBC News that the compensation they received fell far short of the inconvenience the delays caused them, including missing cruise ships and birthday parties. But they say limited access to basic necessities and poor communication from staff only added to their frustration and disappointment.

These complaints have been expressed before.

“People are getting extremely frustrated, and frankly, rightly so,” said Terry Johnson, president of Transport Action Canada, a transportation advocacy group.

He says that anything mechanical can occasionally have problems, and the question is how quickly and effectively a company can respond to them.

‘We need passenger priority’

For tarmac delays, which most closely resemble those experienced by Via Rail passengers, Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) require airlines to provide passengers with free food and beverages in reasonable quantities, access to functioning toilets, adequate ventilation and temperature control, and, with some exceptions, the ability to disembark after three hours.

NDP MP and transportation critic Taylor Bachrach says it would be a piece of cake to legislate similar rights for rail passengers.

“Canada deserves an effective rail network for passengers and to achieve that, we must ensure that rail passengers are treated with the same respect as air passengers,” he said in an interview.

Bachrach says this will only happen when passenger trains are given priority on the tracks.

In Canada, passenger trains that share tracks with freight trains must yield to them and move aside to let them pass. The Crown corporation owns only three percent of the rail lines it uses, meaning it is dependent on others, including CN, a private company.

According to Via Rail, freight trains are the biggest factor in delays. Its 2023 annual report shows that only 59 percent of trains arrived on time — a two percent improvement on the previous year. But that’s still significantly less reliable than the previous decade, when punctuality was around 70 percent.

Bachrach introduced a bill last year, the Rail Passenger Priority Act, that would give passenger trains priority on shared tracks in Canada. The legislation has been around for decades on U.S. tracks, but it hasn’t always been enforced.

“We need better infrastructure for passenger trains, we need priority for passengers… and we need legislation and regulation that protects the rights of rail passengers,” he said.

Péloquin also called on Ottawa last year to formally grant passenger trains the right of way on the tracks. He added that the measure would ideally go hand in hand with a passenger rights law similar to the one that now applies to air passengers to ensure that customers are compensated for long delays.

CBC News contacted Via Rail and asked if Péloquin still supported the idea, but received no response despite repeated attempts.

Europe as ‘gold standard’

Gábor Lukács, president of the air passenger rights advocacy group, says Canada needs to look beyond North America and learn from international passenger rights law.

“What Canada would need, both in air travel and in rail, is to adopt the gold standard of the European Union,” he said, describing current rail rights as “the Wild West” for Canadians.

Under European rail passenger rights regulations, rail passengers have several rights, including the right to reimbursement or alternative travel arrangements if there is a delay of more than 60 minutes. Passengers also have more rights if they miss a connection, as well as accommodation and food facilities if a journey cannot be continued on the same day.

A rule introduced in 2023 also gives the right to choose a different route yourself. If more than 100 minutes pass without a solution for a delay or cancellation, passengers can arrange an alternative trip themselves and the carrier is obliged to cover reasonable costs.

Lukács says a bill of rights for rail passengers can only be achieved if there is political will. But he says he hopes for a better outcome for rail passengers than what has been agreed for air passengers.

“I certainly wouldn’t want the same people who created an inferior protection regime for air passengers in Canada to create an inferior protection regime for rail passengers, because that would just be smoke and mirrors,” he said.

Minister asks Via Rail for improvement

CBC News asked the office of federal Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez why rail passengers do not have these protections in Canada and whether a bill is being considered to improve the performance of delayed passenger trains.

The ministry did not respond to these questions.

In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the minister said Rodriguez met with Via Rail executives and asked the company for an independent report on the 10-hour delay in Quebec.

To ensure it doesn’t happen again, Via Rail has also been asked to improve the training of its employees and review its breakdown procedures. This includes keeping passengers better informed and ensuring they have access to basic services and other options to reach their destination quickly in the event of a long delay.