Open Letter to President & CEO of VIA Rail

September 10, 2026

Mathieu Paquette
Interim President and Chief Executive Officer
VIA Rail Canada

Dear Mr Paquette,

I am writing to convey the concerns of my constituents over the abysmal service provided by VIA Rail this summer between Toronto and Stratford and St. Marys in my riding of Perth—Wellington.

A constituent recently remarked to me that “VIA Rail is never on time.” While I had assumed this was an exaggeration, when I looked at the facts, it was true: VIA Rail is quite literally never on time. Between Canada Day and Labour Day, both VIA Train 84 and VIA Train 87 had a 0.00% on-time performance between Stratford and St. Marys to Toronto Union Station and from Toronto Union Station to Stratford and St. Marys. Both routes had average delays of over one hour.

I hope you will acknowledge that this standard of service is unacceptable. While I recognize that the ownership of the tracks and freight traffic are beyond the day-to-day control of VIA Rail, the daily delays indicate a low level of transparency to consumers that is unacceptable.

Given this poor service record, it begs the question of whether VIA Rail is knowingly neglecting these routes so that it can cease its service along the North Main Line.

I am therefore making three requests:

First, please confirm in writing that VIA Rail will continue to operate both VIA Rail Train 84 and 87.

Second, please provide the actions you will undertake to remedy the 0.00% on-time performance of these trains.

Third, I reiterate the invitation from my letter of August 7 for you to travel from Montreal to Stratford by rail to experience first-hand the challenges faced by my constituents when using VIA Rail.

I am hopeful you will take the time to personally respond to this correspondence.

Respectfully,
John Nater, M.P.

Perth–Wellington