Industrial Rail layoffs may hurt Via Rail

The recent layoff of 85 workers at Industrial Rail Services Inc. in Moncton may have greater implications for the company and for Via Rail, says the head of a national advocacy group.

The company has been contracted to refurbish 98 train cars for Via Rail.

Those trains are being repaired to serve the Quebec City-Windsor corridor and are "the backbone of Via’s intercity fleet" there, said David Jeanes, president of Transport Action Canada.

"They can only be spared for renovation a few at a time," he said.

Via Rail is also approaching its busy season, said Jeanes.

"The delay and the technical problems are quite worrying from that point of view. This is a very important program," he stressed.

"It's part of the government's modernization of Via Rail. This phase was announced back in 2004 and this is one of the projects which is really critical to the future success of Via."

Via officials have expressed frustration about the delay on the $109-million project. They expected 27 of the 98 cars would have been delivered by now. So far, only 10 have been completed.

Industrial Rail officials have said production has been slowed down in part because engineers discovered issues with framing in the floors of the cars.

The layoffs are indefinite while they try to figure out how to solve the problem, they said.

The affected employees range from skilled labourers to administrative staff, officials said.

Another 87 employees are working on other projects with the company, according to officials.