TORONTO — An advocacy group is raising concerns about Air Canada’s participation in a bid for rail services. Transport Action Canada, which advocates for passengers and sustainable transport, has contacted Public Services and Procurement Canada following news that Air Canada has joined a High Frequency Rail (HFR) bid for a multi-decade operating concession for all VIA Rail’s Quebec-Windsor train services. The bid was made by Cadence consortium, led by CDPQinfra.
Along with Air Canada, French government-owned SNCF Voyageurs also joined by the bid ahead of the July 24 deadline. According to Transport Action Canada, if Cadence is selected as the winning consortium and becomes the “Private Development Partner” for HFR by the end of the year, the handover of train and HFR services to the private sector would happen some time during the multi-year period. The group contacted Public Services and Procurement Canada about the following concerns: Transport Action Canada says it received a response from Public Services and Procurement Canada on Aug.
2, which stated that “an analysis conducted by Transport Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada concluded that the addition of Air Canada meets the requirements specified in the procurement documents.” The response also provided assurances that the government intends to carefully scrutinise the agreements drafted in the co-development process to “ensure that the project interacts with different modes of transportat.