All Aboard?

By Raymond D. Cohen

Rail travel is perhaps the most comfortable means of getting around this vast country of ours. VIA Rail is a Canadian icon -- right up there with the maple leaf and the beaver.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees equality to persons with disabilities in Canada -- and human rights legislation guarantees access to goods and services. Thus armed, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) recently challenged VIA Rail regarding its purchase of 139 railway cars from Europe. These cars, according to many -- including Eric Boyd, outgoing Managing Director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association -- are not accessible to people with disabilities, and likely cannot be made accessible. In discussions with Eric Boyd as well as Laurie Beachell, CCD’s National Coordinator, and David Baker, CCD’s counsel in this case, several issues were raised.

First off, why did we go to Europe to purchase railway cars for Canada, when we actually build the things right here at home in Quebec? Furthermore, the cars VIA could have purchased from Quebec’s Bombardier, unlike the European Nightstock, are accessible. Amtrack regularly purchases them for its American railroad system -- and they don’t require retrofitting.

CCD, in an attempt to ensure that rail transportation remains accessible to Canadians with mobility considerations, challenged VIA to cease acquisition of the cars until such time as its ability to accommodate could be assessed. CCD then applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) for an interim order to be imposed to prevent VIA from purchasing the cars, pending such assessment.

VIA responded that CCD had acted prematurely, and that such heavy-handed techniques were not in order and were disruptive to the consultative process. VIA did not disclose, at that point, that the cars had already been purchased -- that it was a done deal! Canadians were already stuck with a bill of something in the order of $130-million for a transportation product inaccessible to a huge, and rapidly growing, segment of our population.

Now the battle has commenced in earnest. The CTA has asserted that the cars must be accessible. VIA has responded that the CTA has no jurisdiction to inspect, until the cars are actually rolling on the tracks. Of course, once they are made useable on Canada’s rails, they likely will not be returnable, as they will have been adapted for the Canadian system. At that point, Canada will certainly be stuck with the costs -- and stuck with inaccessibility.

CCD can only play David versus Goliath for so long before it meets financial ruin. Challenging VIA on behalf of Canadians with disabilities has already cost it many thousands of dollars. It may be the case that VIA is trying to make the cars more accessible to people with disabilities; but if it is, it is not saying as much, and certainly no public consultation is taking place. VIA will not talk about this for as long as legal action is in play.

There are potential safety considerations here, too. Twenty out of the 139 cars, known as lounge cars, do have an accessible compartment -- the only part of the train that may be somewhat accessible. But this section, segregated from the rest of the train, is located in proximity to what is known as the “crumple zone.” The crumple zone is the part of the car designated, in the event of a collision, to absorb shock. A concern is that the British cars may not meet Canadian standards for compression. There is some question as to how dangerous this might be.

The real fear here is the one-step-forward, two-steps-back dynamic with which Canadians with disabilities have become much too familiar. Without accessible transportation, the rights and privileges of citizenship (such as the ability to travel at will, for business or pleasure -- or simply to be able to call all of this country home) go out the window for people with disabilities.

The challenge to VIA is not just about inaccessible rail cars. It is about stopping a dangerous and confining precedent from being imposed. If VIA is allowed to put inaccessible stock into service, what is to stop other members of the transportation industry following suit, cutting corners at the expense of the disability community? People with disabilities must have their right to transportation supported, not denied.

A final irony: Amtrack, the rail system to the south, just announced in May that its “ridership among disabled guests increased nearly six per cent during 2000.” One can only speculate as to what will happen in Canada if VIA has its way.

If you would like your voice to be heard on this important issue, contact Minister Collenette, the federal minister of transportation, or your local member of parliament. Or register your opinion on EnableLink’s Transportation message board, www.enablelink.org -- and stay in touch!