Tausi Insider

In Western Europe, airlines are losing the battle to preserve their lucrative short-haul routes. Soon, they may not legally be able to fly them. Their loss, unimaginable among U.S. and Canadian airlines, marks a rare victory for the planet. Take the route from Rome, where I live, to Milan. It never occurs to me to fly between the two cities, even though the distance between them is about 600 kilometres – the same distance as Toronto to Montreal. The Trenitalia site offers 42 high-speed departures from Rome on any weekday. Rival Italo – there is healthy rail competition in Italy – offers 33. Knowing a train leaves every few minutes for Milan, I never book ahead. I take the metro to Rome’s central train station, pop my credit card into a ticket machine and am rolling a few minutes later. The trains hit 300 kilometres an hour or more – almost turboprop speeds – which means I can be in central Milan in three hours. And, since the trains are electric, my travel is emission-free, as if I w...

Via Rail plans to resume trains on its Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal routes Tuesday, the rail service said days after a CN train derailment forced the cancellation of those trains scheduled for Christmas and Boxing Day. CN confirmed in a statement that the tracks where its train derailed on Christmas Eve will be reopened Tuesday and said Via Rail plans to run all trains on the route, but on a modified schedule. That modified schedule will be available on Via Rail’s website and communicated to impacted customers “as soon as possible,” it said. Passenger advocate urges stranded Sunwing passengers in Mexico to take legal action Thousands of Canadians spent another day in the cold and dark, as hydro crews continued working to restore electricity to those affected by the power outages caused by fierce winter storms last week. As of Monday afternoon, power was still out for over 55,000 Hydro-Quebec customers, more than 24,000 Hydro One customers and more than 1,100 clients of NB Powe...