Unfortunately 97% of the tracks used by federal trains (VIA Rail) in Canada are owned by private freight companies, and thus passengers will wait for the cash cow to pass them.

In fact, 97% of the tracks Via runs on are owned by CN, which Via has to pay to use. Consequently, Canada is one of the only nations in the world where passenger trains yield to freight trains rather than the other way around, leading to frequent and significant delays— Via’s on-time performance was just 57% in 2022.