Passenger fares on Marine Atlantic are being reduced dramatically thanks to new federal investment in the service. PHOTO – Marine Atlantic
Transport Action Atlantic (TAA) is thrilled to see a major passenger-focused federal investment in ferry services in Atlantic Canada, as the federal government has swiftly followed through on a campaign promise that will benefit the travelling public in this region. TAA has long advocated for reductions to ferry rates, particularly on Marine Atlantic between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. This was part of our 2025 election agenda, and it was also one of the major advocacy priorities we identified at our AGM, so we consider this to be a major success of our advocacy.
TAA had expressed cautious optimism about the new government’s promises to reduce ferry rates in the region, after seeing the previous government take far too long to only partially follow through on their promises about reducing Marine Atlantic’s cost recovery targets. So we are particularly pleased to see quick and concrete action by the current federal government.
Thanks to the federal announcement last week and the swift implementation on August 1, 2025, it is now more affordable for passengers to travel on four major ferry services in the region, with passenger fares reduced by 50% on Marine Atlantic to Newfoundland, Bay Ferries between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Northumberland Ferries between Nova Scotia and PEI, and to the Magdalen Islands. Tolls on the Confederation Bridge have also been reduced, which further reduces another barrier to residents and visitors of Prince Edward Island.
While this is welcome news for passengers travelling in the region, this does not fully address the constitutional commitment to the people of Newfoundland. Beyond the passenger component, the recent federal announcement only freezes the commercial freight rates at their current level. To fully respect the spirit of the Terms of Union that made Newfoundland and Labrador a part of Canada, and to address ongoing cost of living challenges facing citizens across the country, reductions to the cost of moving freight to and from Newfoundland should also follow to make life in the province more affordable.
While we welcome the follow-through on this campaign promise, TAA will continue to advocate for:
Honouring the constitutional commitment to Newfoundland and Labrador by maintaining lower passenger fares and lowering commercial freight costs on Marine Atlantic; and
Improving public transport connections in the Maritimes to ensure that people can access these ferry services without the need to bring a personal vehicle, with schedules that connect effectively and cooperation between carriers to ensure convenient movement of passengers.
Ferry passengers to PEI will also see a break, as will those on the other federally funded ferry services in the region. PHOTO – Northumberland Ferries Limited
As polling day for the 2025 federal election draws ever closer, Transport Action Atlantic would like to draw attention to a pair of key issues that we’re highlighting for candidates in this election. This election comes during a time of of growing global insecurity, an increasingly fractured and uncertain relationship with our neighbours to the south, and an ever greater focus on Canadian sovereignty and resilience. We believe that a robust domestic transportation system, with options that provide convenient, affordable and sustainable connections between Canadian cities, towns, and provinces, can play a major role in connecting our nation during these tumultuous times.
TAA is an all-volunteer, non-partisan advocacy organization. Our goal is to promote convenient, affordable and sustainable public transportation for all Atlantic Canadians. During the current federal campaign we believe it is important – and reasonable – to ask candidates of all political persuasion where they stand on these issues.
There are many intercity transportation issues that we support and continue to advocate for, but in this campaign we have decided to focus on two key Atlantic Canadian issues where we feel we have a strong voice. These are 1) the critical need for investment to restore and bolster passenger rail in Atlantic Canada, and 2) the need to provide affordable ferry travel between Newfoundland and mainland Canada.
We are pleased to present these two policy briefings, continuing our regional and national theme of Ideas in Motion. We encourage you to read and discuss them. If you agree with us that they deserve priority attention among campaign issues critical to Atlantic Canada and its future, please share them and encourage others to join the cause as well. Don’t miss this opportunity!
These two policy briefings focused on Atlantic Canada are published in their entirety below, and you can open or download either of these briefings as a PDF using the links below, so you can save, print and share them as you wish!
A vision for renewed VIA Rail service in the Maritimes
Passenger rail in Atlantic Canada today is a sorry remnant of what it used to be. For the past three decades it has been declining at a more precipitous rate than elsewhere in the VIA Rail system. In fact, portions of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor have, in recent years, seen improvement in frequency and capacity, and investment in new trains.
A major setback for VIA’s Maritime service came in October 2012, when the frequency of the region’s sole remaining train was cut to just three times weekly, under the guise of being an “improvement” to better meet the public demand. VIA’s then-CEO was insistent that the Ocean was primarily a tourism product – completely ignoring the realities of local needs and travel patterns. The train has suffered significant ridership losses and increasing operating costs since the cutback. VIA is now paying more to operate fewer trains, and VIA’s own corporate plans acknowledge that passengers in the Maritimes are being poorly served by the current schedule.
The tri-weekly operation eliminated the possibility of same-day returns to the Maritimes from Montreal, and one-day round trips to Moncton for residents of New Brunswick’s North Shore – an important consideration for people who have few other public transportation options. The lack of frequency also rules out rail as a choice for weekend travel, and it limits its usefulness when severe winter conditions make other forms of transportation unreliable or impossible. In the years since, the train’s schedule has been extended due to slow track conditions, train capacity has been constrained by the dwindling availability of serviceable equipment, and key on-board amenities have been lost due to the removal of infrastructure in Halifax that allowed VIA to turn its trains.
Frequency and reliability are key components to making passenger rail service viable. Transport Action Atlantic believes that a daily Ocean with equipment appropriate to meet market demand at different times of the year would be the most effective way to serve communities all along the route, as well to provide a quality seasonal tourism product. Improved track infrastructure to facilitate better travel times would also help make the service more attractive.
The 2024 federal budget allocated funding for VIA to begin the replacement of its long-distance, regional, and remote train fleet. This is an important step, but it needs to be seen through to completion in a timely fashion to ensure that VIA’s services are not impacted before new equipment can arrive. It is also critical that the new fleet provide a sufficient increase in capacity to allow the trains to meet and grow market demand, and allow for the return of at least daily train service in Atlantic Canada. Further, investments are needed in the short-term to maintain the existing fleet. We continue to believe that frequency increases could be possible with the existing fleet, following refurbishment work.
Extensive market research should guide both the acquisition of new passenger cars and refurbishment of the existing fleet. A variety of accommodation and onboard amenities should be available to accommodate various travel budgets, including budget options for those willing to pay for additional comfort and personal space without luxury pricing. Simply put, the product should meet the needs of the marketplace.
There is also the issue of track infrastructure. The total Montreal-Halifax travel time for the Ocean today is longer than it was in the era of steam locomotives – largely due to the deteriorated condition of CN’s Newcastle Subdivision in northern New Brunswick. Passenger train speed is limited to just 30 miles per hour on a lengthy stretch of track where 70 mph was safely permitted less than 20 years ago. Federal investment a decade ago was meant to improve the track, but the money has been spent and speeds have not been restored. Clearly, more investment is required, but in so doing the infrastructure owner needs to be held to account to ensure the outcome meets the intended objectives.
Canada does not end at Quebec City! Canadians outside of the corridor also deserve investment in modern passenger rail equipment and services. At a time when national unity is of the utmost importance, investing in passenger rail is an ideal pathway to create economic opportunity and better connect Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Affordable Newfoundland ferry rates – a constitutional commitment
Three quarters of a century has passed since Newfoundland and Labrador became Canada’s tenth province, completing Confederation from sea to sea. Transportation was a key concern for the people who designed the Terms of Union – and cost was an essential factor. Accordingly, Term 32 obligated Canada to provide a federally-supported ferry service between North Sydney and Port aux Basques, and provided protection against the higher cost of living resulting from geography. Specifically, framed in conformity with the dominant transportation mode of the day, the 100-nautical-mile crossing of the Cabot Strait was to be rated as an all-rail movement. The additional handling and operational costs of the ferry service were to be absorbed by the Government of Canada through Crown-owned Canadian National Railways.
Much has changed in the intervening years. The narrow-gauge Newfoundland rail line was abandoned in 1988; the railway passenger service on the island had been discontinued two decades previously. Traffic on the “constitutional” ferry route is now all highway-based. But the basic principle of Term 32 remains. While road has replaced rail, the ferry service operated by the federal Crown corporation Marine Atlantic Inc. (MAI) must be viewed in the contemporary sense as an extension of the Trans Canada Highway. If the spirit in which the Terms of Union were drafted is to be respected, vehicles crossing the Cabot Strait should be charged no more than the cost of driving them 180 kilometres by highway. Arguably, there should be no charges for commercial drivers or the occupants of passenger vehicles. It is significant that these additional costs do not apply to users of the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island, which is also a constitutional obligation of the Government of Canada.
Over time, the best intentions of the latter-day Fathers of Confederation have been eroded. In the past two decades Marine Atlantic’s rates have more than doubled – an increase greater than three times the national inflation rate. Security fees and fuel surcharges have also been added. Notably, there are no such additional costs to users of the Confederation Bridge, where tolls are tied to the cost of living index.
Under a previous Conservative government, Transport Canada imposed a cost recovery target of 65% on MAI. Despite a campaign commitment from their leader in 2015 to address this “unreasonable” requirement, it took the subsequent Liberal administration nearly nine years (and three transport ministers) to get round to removing it. Ferry rates actually continued to rise in excess of the inflation rate until 2020.
Transport Action Atlantic believes the spirit of the Terms of Union that made Newfoundland and Labrador a part of Canada should be respected, and that Term 32 must be viewed in a modernized context. The ferry crossing of the Cabot Strait is part of the Trans Canada Highway, and should cost users no more than driving the equivalent distance by road. This is an obligation assumed by the Government of Canada in 1949, and remains as valid today as it did then – notwithstanding the passage of time and changes in transportation technology.
The major parties are currently campaigning on promises to eliminate the tolls on the Confederation Bridge and to re-examine ferry rates on crossings to Prince Edward Island. In the same spirit, residents of Newfoundland and Labrador should be afforded the same consideration in making travel to and from their province more affordable.
Today’s ferry rates are much higher than they should be – and in a time of economic uncertainty and increasing global costs, immediate action is required.
Welcome to this special edition of Atlantic Transport News. The 2024 Federal budget was released yesterday, and it contains several positive items for Atlantic Canada. There have also been a couple of other interesting news developments of late, so let’s get right into it! Here’s what you’ll find in this edition:
BUDGET 2024: VIA RAIL LONG-DISTANCE FLEET RENEWAL GETS THE GREEN LIGHT
VIA Rail’s new trains in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor are modernizing rail travel in this busy region. With the go ahead in Budget 2024, the rest of the country should also be able to benefit from new trains over the coming decade. (PHOTO – Tim Hayman)
The 2024 Federal budget was unveiled on Tuesday, April 16, and those following VIA Rail issues were watching this one closely and with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. As highlighted by VIA and outlined in our own pre-budget submission and advocacy, this year marked a critical point for the fleet that supports all of VIA’s routes outside of the Quebec-City Windsor Corridor. With the long-haul equipment expected to meet its end of life by the early to mid-2030s, procurement for a replacement fleet needs to start now if there’s any chance it will be ready for delivery in time to avoid service cuts. VIA has done considerable work to be ready to launch this, they were just waiting on the budget approval.
With this in mind, we were extremely pleased to find this line on P. 256 of the budget document, which states: “Budget 2024 proposes to provide … New funding for VIA Rail to replace its aging fleet on routes outside the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Funding amounts are not being released to protect the government’s negotiating position for an upcoming procurement.”
We absolutely welcome the government’s recognition that the procurement process must be started without further delay. The absence of detail at this stage is understandable, given the competitive nature of the process. As VIA launches into the formal procurement, hopefully within the coming months, we will continue to advocate the need to ensure that the outcome results in equipment that will be reliable under Canadian operating conditions, and in sufficient quantity to restore daily service between Montreal and Halifax.
Within this region, there is still the critical issue that track infrastructure in northern New Brunswick is in terrible shape and in need of substantial investment to bring it back to acceptable standards. This budget does nothing to directly address this, so we will continue to make that case.
Aside from these specific points, it is also encouraging to see the acknowledgement in the budget that “Canadians are increasingly switching to clean transportation options, and taking the train is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to travel across our country.” Let’s hope that the government will provide the supports needed to not only provide new trains for VIA’s services across the country, but also
BUDGET 2024: OTHER POSITIVES
The VIA Rail long distance funding wasn’t the only item in the budget worth highlighting. P. 258 features the heading “Reliable Transportation in Atlantic Canada”, and lists three items: “(1) $124.1 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, with $32.9 million in remaining amortization, to Marine Atlantic Inc. to support its continued operations and keep fares affordable; (2) $2.5 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to Transport Canada to freeze fares under the Ferry Services Contribution Program until December 2025; (3) and, $13.7 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to Transport Canada to negotiate a continued toll freeze on the Confederation Bridge in 2025 and 2026.”
The commitment to an ongoing freeze on Confederation Bridge tolls and federally supported ferry services is welcome, but it is somewhat concerning that the terminology regarding Marine Atlantic is somewhat vague, using the words “keep fares affordable” rather than “freeze fares”. It would be appropriate to remind government that the existing Marine Atlantic tariff is well above the level envisaged by the Terms of Union when Newfoundland joined Confederation 75 years ago.
We also welcome the commitment to public transit, particularly as it is being tied to housing projects, and TAA will continue to advocate for support to projects in this region under the Zero Emission Transit Fund and the Rural Transit Solutions Fund.
BEDFORD-HALIFAX FAST FERRY GETS FUNDING
Rendering of Halifax electric ferry (Halifax Regional Municipality)
In other recent news, the long discussed fast ferry project to link Bedford to downtown Halifax appears ready to set sail, as funding has been secured from all three levels of government to back the project. Pitched as a replacement for the now-abandoned commuter rail project, this ferry system has been a major part of Halifax’s rapid transit strategy, and will take advantage of the existing harbour to provide a more direct transit option to downtown, fully separated from the ever worsening traffic and congestion along the Bedford highway.
A new ferry terminal and intermodal hub will be built at Mill Cove, with a bridge across the CN rail line, and the downtown ferry terminal will be rebuilt to accommodate the new vessels. Five all-electric ferries will be built for the service, which will initially link these two terminals and may in the future be expanded to include stops at Larry Uteck and Shannon Park on the Dartmouth side of the harbour.
Now that it has the go ahead, the project is currently expected to be completed and operational in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
CHIGNECTO ISTHMUS – PROVINCES FORMALIZE PARTNERSHIP TO MOVE SOME WORK AHEAD
The provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have taken a step forward in collaboration on the badly needed Chignecto Isthmus project, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) now in place between the two provinces.
The argument over funding continues, as noted in this article, but with the decade-long timeline for the project and every growing climate related concerns, any progress towards this work is welcome.
CAPE BRETON RAIL – PROVINCIAL SUBSIDY ENDS, BUT LIGHT RAIL TO BE STUDIED
This month saw a pair of back to back announcements related to Cape Breton’s long dormant rail line. The first was the potentially disappointing but unsurprising news that the provincial government would be ending the subsidy that had been provided to the railway owner to keep the dormant line across the island in place. The province cited the new ownership involvement from CN, and noted the lack of any clear business case that has yet been made for the investment to restore the line to operation. It seems that it will now come down to CN to provide some indication of their plans and case for the line, but there is yet considerable uncertainty about what their involvement will mean.
Immediately on the heals of this news was a rather surprising announcement that the province of Nova Scotia will be providing $600,000 in funding to Cape Breton University to complete a feasibility study for a light rail transit system for Cape Breton. Motivated by a surge in population in the Sydney area driven primarily by the university, which has resulted in the over-straining of Cape Breton’s limited transit system, this study will be looking at the potential development of a “battery-powered light-rail train service in CBRM, building on existing infrastructure and the rail corridor.” University president David Dingwall made a direct connection between the end of the subsidy and the funding for this study, stating that “the cancellation of the subsidy on the Cape Breton rail line has opened opportunities for something new in CBRM that will benefit the community for generations to come.” We will of course be watching this closely as it develops, and if there is a good case for the project, we hope the province will also follow through with funding to build and operate the system, not just the study.
This public information session is designed to explore the importance of diversifying transportation systems on Cape Breton Island and will include a panel discussion highlighting the potential economic impacts, including employment opportunities, of an updated and diversified system of commercial shipping options. The session is co-hosted by the Cape Breton Partnership, Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Scotia Rail Development Society, Port of Sydney, and JA Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Tyler Mattheis, President and CEO of the Cape Breton Partnership and will focus on the need and opportunities for expanded and diversified systems for commercial shipping. Some of those opportunities could include expanded export potential, expansion of manufacturing opportunities for existing operators, and the attraction of outside investment to the Island. The panel will feature local experts on investment attraction, export, engineering, bulk shipping, and green energy.
“The CBRM, as the urban hub of Unama’ki – Cape Breton, is recognized as a key economic hub with the potential for a diverse transportation network that includes road, rail, sea, and air infrastructure,” says Tyler Mattheis. “However, without significant updates and expansion of each of these systems, the CBRM is restricted in its ability to fully contribute to a strong and growing Nova Scotia, despite the many opportunities for economic development and growth.”
“We are at a pivotal point in history where CBRM is growing, and we must continue to plan for the future,” says CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill. “Innovation in transportation needs to be balanced with affordability and access for all residents.”
The event will also feature a “Town Hall” discussion featuring local businesspeople who will talk about how the diversification of commercial transportation could affect their businesses as well as the lives of the residents of Unama’ki – Cape Breton.
“Our goal for hosting this event is largely public awareness and education, bringing real information and feedback directly to the public and generating discussion around the role that transportation plays in our Island’s success,” adds Megan Penney, Member Relations Coordinator of the Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The event will take place on May 6, from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, at the Port of Sydney’s Pittman Hall. Many key stakeholders and partners are confirmed to attend the event, including the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Government of Nova Scotia, business leaders focused on developments in and around Sydney Harbour, and private sector businesses from across Unama’ki – Cape Breton.
Transport Action Canada’s AGM will feature a guest presentation by author, historian, and archivist for the VIA Historical Association Christopher Greenlaw.
Transport Action Canada (TAC), TAA’s national affiliate, will be holding its annual general meeting on Saturday, April 27th. Your membership in TAA also provides you with membership in TAC, and both you and other interested supporters are welcome to join this year’s event either virtually or in-person in Ottawa.
In addition to the usual business, this year’s AGM will feature a guest presentation VIA Rail: A History of Connecting Canadians by author, historian, and archivist for the VIA Historical Association Christopher Greenlaw.
On a closing note for this issue, commuters on the Bedford Highway in Halifax got a glimpse this past week of what could have been if the Halifax commuter rail project had gone ahead. Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered demonstrator unit was on its way back to Europe, having spent last summer operating on the Charlevoix railway in Quebec (for a report on that trial period from TAC president Terry Johnson, have a look here). The units arrived on flat cars, soon to be transferred to mafis and loaded on a ship. Poised in the yard at Rockingham during the evening rush hour, with the distinctive harbour features behind them, one could almost imagine they were rolling along with commuters on board, bound for Bedford. Perhaps one day…
A neat view in Halifax, but wouldn’t it be better if it weren’t on a flat car? (PHOTO – Tim Hayman)
