Via Rail seeks to limit scope of wheelchair and mobility aid policy

TORONTO — Via Rail is trying to limit the scope of a policy to make its trains more accessible to travellers using wheelchairs and mobility aids.

The national rail provider had revised its policy in May in compliance with an order from the Canadian Transportation Agency, which directed Via to double the number of mobility devices that could be tied down on trains from one to two.

The ruling was prompted by a complaint to the CTA from a married couple who asserted the old rules barred them from travelling together.

Via’s revised policy was subject to approval from the CTA, which wrote the company in June to confirm that the new rules would be applied to “all Via trains operating across Canada.”

But Via Rail has now explicitly stated it only plans to implement the revised policy for travel between Quebec City and Windsor.

It also says it can currently only apply the policy on one of the three classes of train travelling that route, leaving the couple whose complaint sparked the change concerned that Via has no genuine commitment to broader accessibility.

Marie Murphy and Martin Anderson, who both use mobility scooters due to their cerebral palsy, said Via’s position makes them feel as though they’re back at square one.

They criticized Via for focusing solely on their specific situation rather than working to make trains more accessible for wheelchair travellers nationwide.

“I’m somewhat disappointed that it’s 2017 and a federal crown corporation still feels that one (tie-down) spot is enough,” Anderson said. “It’s not enough in this day and age.”

Via Rail declined to comment on a “pending legal matter,” while the CTA said it would not weigh in while it was still reviewing Via’s latest submissions.

Previously, trains featured only one tie-down area for someone travelling in a wheelchair or mobility scooter, and other passengers using such devices were forced to dismantle the aids and store them, risking damage to the equipment.

After the CTA ruled in favour of Murphy and Anderson, Via changed its policy in May, saying it would make it possible for two mobility aids to use the existing tie-down area on trains as long as the users had the capacity to transfer to a regular seat for the trip. If a user who could not transfer to a regular seat wanted to book the tie-down spot, the policy contained a clause allowing them to bump another mobility aid user from the area even if they’d previously reserved it.

On June 23, the CTA sent Via a letter seeking “confirmation” of several points, including the fact that the new accessibility rules would be applied on every Via train across the country.

Via Rail’s July 12 response, filed after a deadline set by the CTA, made it clear that a national implementation was not planned.

Anderson and Murphy, who have travelled successfully along the Quebec-Windsor route since May, said they would go further afield if they were assured they could receive adequate accommodations.