For reasons unknown to me, our governments made choices a few decades ago that favoured air and car travel over train travel, unlike many other developed countries and even emerging ones such as China. The result was slow VIA passenger trains that need to pull off the line to let trains carrying goods go by.

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We can finally catch up to the world a bit and reduce carbon emissions by doing what we should have done years ago. Passengers will return to rail if the travel time is reduced, the trains are on time, and the carbon-footprint savings are mentioned.

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A major reason why Canadians might want to encourage taking the train is that the carbon footprint of rail travel is much less than that of air travel. A few years ago, an independent study commissioned by Eurostar found that taking the train from London to Paris instead of flying cut CO2 emissions per passenger by as much as 90 per cent.

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That kind of cut alone should justify encouraging rail travel, even if it has to be subsidized.

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If we were to abandon the passenger-rail option, could the current infrastructure absorb the 4.5 million-plus annual additional trips that travellers made?

Look to Germany, where short-haul flights are being replaced very effectively with high-speed trains. Where the German government is investing billions in rail travel, I guess we can only make do …

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This morning, in my mind’s eye, I am in Peterborough, standing on the platform, feeling hopeful, and waiting for the high-frequency train to come through (What’s That Coming Down The Track? – editorial, July 30). In the midst of the climate crisis, I don’t want more flights between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, nor do I want more subsidized highways.

I want convenient, reliable passenger rail travel, and would be more than happy to pay my taxes for such service. Bring on the trains. My bags are packed.