AC's impact on rail transport in Canada
Slight offshoot of another thread... this is completely unfounded, but I'm curious what other people think.
I've often lamented the state of rail travel in Canada (and North America as a whole), and I've wondered why Via doesn't try to position itself as a cheaper / competitive option to flying - especially on short-haul routes.
Take {Niagara,Windsor}->Toronto->{Kingston,Montreal,Ottawa,Quebec City}.
It's a fairly straight line - the rails are there, and it's probably the heaviest short haul travel route in Canada. Yet, my ability to get from Kitchener to Pearson or Union Station - I'm looking at 2x the travel time minimum in comparison to a car, and a significant cost.
There have been little to no efforts to build out a high-speed rail option along this route, even though we can fairly confidently say that the demand is there. Could this primarily be government/corporate welfare for AC? If we moved significant numbers of travelers to high-speed rail (which, generally, everyone would find more enjoyable and possibly more reliable if done correctly), I assume this would significantly impact AC's top line.
I'm curious what others think.