December 15, 2022 Ottawa, Ontario Transport Canada

High-frequency rail will transform rail passenger travel in Canada by creating faster, more frequent, accessible and sustainable rail service in major centers of Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto.

Today, the Secretary of State for Transport, the Honorable Omar Alghabra, announced significant milestones for the high frequency rail project: the formation of VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc. (VIA TGF) to manage the development of the new high frequency rail project and the appointments of the first three board members .

VIA Rail Inc. has formed VIA TGF as a new wholly owned subsidiary and has appointed three founding directors to its Board of Directors: Robert Prichard, Marie-José Nadeau and Robert Fonberg. Mr. Prichard will serve as President and Mrs. Nadeau as Vice-President. These three founding directors bring an impressive combination of strategic leadership and private and public sector experience. You will be able to build a Crown Corporation subsidiary capable of bringing about a historic transformation of rail passenger transport in Canada. You will immediately focus on recruiting and selecting the President and CEO of VIA TGF (ongoing), as well as recruiting other directors to complete the seven-member board.

VIA TGF will operate independently from VIA Rail and act as a dedicated office for the high-frequency rail project. In the short term, the Canadian government should lead a procurement process to select a private real estate development partner for the project. Once the partner is selected, VIA TGF will work with them to design and develop the new high frequency train project in close coordination with VIA Rail.