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Slower, ruder rail: Working together to…uh… never mind

Canada’s Via Rail and France’s SNCF sign an agreement to… well… OK, I’m stumped. But certainly, once you combine Via’s outdated, rickety rolling stock and the SNCF’s legendary reputation for labour interruptions and Torquemada-on-crack customer service, well, a juggernaut is what you’ll have, isn’t it? The two rail companies’ chief executives are positively chuffed:

“We are very pleased to be signing this agreement with SNCF International, which has an excellent reputation in the rail sector. This collaboration will allow us to share our respective know-how, and confirms that VIA Rail is a model to which other countries turn concerning questions of passenger rail,” declared Paul Côté, VIA’s President and CEO.
The Chairman and CEO of SNCF International, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, for his part affirmed:
“VIA Rail has a great deal of expertise in the delivery of passenger train services, and will certainly be an added value to help us open doors to new business opportunities.”

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