Editing Via Rail (section)

===1990s===
[[File:VIA 6501 with Train 109 at Regina, SK in May 1982 (32098880841).jpg|thumb|left|A Via [[EMD FP7|GMD FP7]] leads the ''[[Canadian (train)|Canadian]]'' in Regina, May 1982. The ''Canadian'' was rerouted in the 1990s, ending service to several cities, like Calgary.]]
Minister of Transport [[Benoît Bouchard]] oversaw the reduction in service on January 15, 1990, when Via's operations were reduced by 55 percent.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The privatization of CN rail in 1995 also negatively affected service as it resulted in an effective monopoly, with Via trains having to yield to CN trains.<ref name=":1" />

Services such as the ''[[Super Continental]]'' were again discontinued, along with numerous disparate rural services such as in [[Nova Scotia]]'s [[Annapolis Valley]] and [[Cape Breton Island]], [[western Canada]], and in the corridor. ''[[The Canadian]]'' was also moved from its home rails on CP to the northerly CN route (previously plied by the ''Super Continental''). The shift to the less populated route between [[Toronto]] and [[Vancouver]] severed major western cities such as [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]] and [[Calgary, Alberta|Calgary]] from the passenger rail network and flared western bitterness toward the [[Government of Canada]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

The official justification for the rerouting was that the trains would serve more remote communities, but the concentration of ridings held by the Progressive Conservatives along the CN route attracted the charge that the move was chiefly political. [[Harvie André]], one of Alberta's federal cabinet ministers who represented Calgary, stated publicly that he did not care if he never saw a passenger train again in his life.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

The Mulroney cuts allowed Via to consolidate its fleet of cars and locomotives, resulting in a fleet of refurbished stainless steel ([[head end power|HEP]]-1 and HEP-2 rebuilds) and LRC cars, as well as rationalizing its locomotive fleet with GM and Bombardier (LRC) units.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Via was not spared from further cutbacks in [[Jean Chrétien]]'s [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] government elected in 1993. Minister of Finance [[Paul Martin]]'s first budget in 1994 saw further Via cuts which saw the popular ''[[Atlantic (passenger train)|Atlantic]]'' dropped from the schedule, focusing the eastern transcontinental service on the ''[[Ocean Limited|Ocean]]''. CP had sold off a large portion of track the ''Atlantic'' had operated on and, as Via at that time was only mandated to provide passenger services on tracks belonging to CN or CP, the route was discontinued.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} This move was seen as somewhat controversial and politically motivated as the principal cities benefiting from the ''Atlantic''{{'s}} service were [[Sherbrooke]], Quebec, and [[Saint John, New Brunswick]], where the only two Progressive Conservative Party [[Members of Parliament]] in Canada were elected in the 1993 federal election in which Chrétien's Liberal Party took power. The ''Ocean'' service which was preserved currently operates on track between Montreal and Halifax running through the lower St. Lawrence River valley and northern New Brunswick. The Minister of Transport in Chrétien's government at the time, [[Doug Young (politician)|Douglas Young]], was elected from a district that included [[Bathurst, New Brunswick]], on the ''Ocean''{{'s}} route. A remote Via service to Quebec's [[Gaspé Peninsula]], the ''[[Chaleur (passenger train)|Chaleur]]'' was also spared from being cut at this time, despite carrying fewer passengers than the ''Atlantic''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

====Renaissance funding====
[[File:19961012 08 Amtrak E. Lansing, MI.jpg|thumb|A Via locomotive leads the ''[[International (Amtrak train)|International]]'' with [[Amtrak]] coaches. The International route was jointly operated by Via and Amtrak from 1982 to 2004.]]
By the late 1990s, with a rail-friendly Minister of Transport, [[David Collenette]], in office, there were modest funding increases to Via. Corridor services were improved with new and faster trains, a weekly tourist train, the ''[[Bras d'Or (train)|Bras d'Or]]'', returned Via service to [[Cape Breton Island]] for the first time since the 1990 cuts, and a commitment was made to continue operating on [[Vancouver Island]], but western Canada continued to languish with the only service provided by the ''Canadian'' and a few remote service trains in northern BC and Manitoba.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

In a significant new funding program dubbed "Renaissance", a fleet of unused passenger cars which had been built for planned ''[[Nightstar (train)|Nightstar]]'' sleeper services between locations in the United Kingdom and [[Continental Europe]] via the [[Channel Tunnel]] were purchased and adapted following the cancellation of the ''Nightstar'' project. The new "[[Renaissance (railcar)|Renaissance]]" cars were swiftly nicknamed ''déplaisance'' ("displeasure") by French-speaking employees and customers, due to early problems adapting the equipment for Canadian use. Doors and toilets froze in cold Atlantic Canada temperatures, resulting in delays and service interruptions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transport2000.ca/Hotlines/hl040130.htm |title=Transport 2000 Hotline |publisher=Transport2000.ca |date=January 30, 2004 |access-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420150023/http://www.transport2000.ca/Hotlines/hl040130.htm |archive-date=April 20, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> New diesel-electric [[GE Genesis|P42DC]] locomotives purchased from [[General Electric]] (GE) allowed the withdrawal of older locomotives, including remaining LRCs. LRC passenger cars were retained and continued to provide much of the Corridor service. This expansion to Via's fleet has permitted scheduling flexibility. Additionally, many passenger stations have been remodelled into passenger-friendly destinations, with several hosting co-located transit and regional bus hubs for various municipalities.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}