AAPRCO has been conducting official discussions with Via Rail Canada since August 2010. The focus of these discussions has been individual private car movements, with an emphasis on access to trains/destinations and tariff charges. These discussions began with a letter from Lovett Smith to Mr. Marc Laliberte (President and CEO) and then took the form of several detailed letters and email messages exchanged between Lovett and Mr. Joseph Cianci (Director, Operations Planning and Inventory Management) and Mr. Steven Del Bosco (Chief Marketing Officer), followed by a meeting at Via 92s Montreal headquarters. Lovett was assisted by Jack Deasy, who developed a comparative analysis of Amtrak and Via private car tariffs, and how their interpretation affects the cost of a trip; Jack has also been working with Via 92s Nancy Beaulieu to determine operating opportunities and limitations.

The net results of these negotiations is:

a. A re-awakening of the official AAPRCO-Via relationship, which has been dormant since the unsuccessful 2005 Halifax convention negotiations, placing it back on a sound professional foundation.

b. An incremental improvement in operating opportunities and an incremental reduction in the cost of trips, primarily benefiting travel to/from Montreal on Amtrak's Adirondack and travel between Montreal and certain destinations in eastern Canada.

c. Via interprets the provisions of the Via tariff differently than Amtrak interprets the provisions of the Amtrak tariff. The billing of minimum mileage charges, parking charges, adding charges, cutting charges and switching charges are examples.

d. While there is some good news, there is also some negative news, primarily no changes in the status quo in certain areas.

The following items may be considered in the positive-neutral category:

a. Occupied parking is generally available at Montreal Central Station from Friday evening until Sunday. Via cited the demand for track space for both Via inter-city trains and AMT commuter trains, as well as ongoing construction activities, as the limiting factor. This allows northbound travel on Amtrak's Adirondack on a Friday, two nights and one full day parked in Central Station, followed by departure on Amtrak's Adirondack on a Sunday morning. It is possible this window of opportunity may be expanded to include an additional day on Canadian three day holiday weekends when commuter trains are not being operated and construction work is suspended.

b. Via is willing to park PVs at their Montreal Maintenance Centre (MMC). If the car is occupied by guests/passengers, then security services will be required and charged per the tariff. If the car is empty or occupied by owner/crew only, then Via is willing to waive the security requirement, provided a 93 hold harmless 94 clause is added to the contract. Via will closely monitor the behavior of anyone (owners, crew, guests/passengers) associated with a PV at the MMC. If their activities do not meet Via 92s rules of conduct, then security services will be imposed and billed to the car owner. This represents a significant concession by Via. The security requirement was imposed in 2009 because the behavior of the occupants of one or more PVs did not measure up to Via's standards of conduct during their stay at the MMC.

c. As a goodwill gesture, Via has revised some of their tariff rates for 2011. Charges for switching, cutting and adding a car have been reduced by a small amount. More importantly, daily parking charges have now been split into two 12 hour blocks, one from midnight to noon and one from noon to midnight. If your car is parked on Via property at noon, then you will be charged for that 12 hour block of parking. If your car is parked on Via property at midnight, then you will be charged for that 12 hour block of parking. If your car is parked on Via property for some portion of any 12 hour block, but is not there at either noon or midnight, then you wil not be charged for that 12 hour block. This new method for computing parking charges, which represents another concession by Via, may save you some money on a future trip.

d. Via 92s tri-weekly trains between Montreal and Jonquiere and Senneterre are operated with Budd heritage equipment and generally remain fully accessible to PV travel, with occupied parking available at the end point of the two routes. The routes traverse some remote and scenic countryside.

e. Operation of PVs on other trains, such as Montreal 96 Quebec City corridor trains and Montreal 96 Ottawa corridor trains, with occupied parking at Quebec City and Ottawa, will be considered on a case by case basis, subect to approval by their Chief Operating Officer. Via's primary concern is on time performance ... maintaining advertised schedules.

The following items may be considered in the neutral-negative category:

a. Via remains adamant in their unwillingness to operate a PV behind a PARK observation car at any time.

b. The minimum mileage charge (currently $775) applies to each individual train movement, not the sum of mileage charged for all trains covered by a single movement request. For example, a trip from Montreal to Quebec City will trigger the minimum mileage charge. Montreal to Quebec City is 272 kilometers or 169 miles; at the current mileage rate of $4.00 per mile, that is $676, but it must be increased to the minimum mileage charge of $775. The same math applies to the return trip from Quebec City to Montreal. Montreal to Ottawa will trigger the minimum mileage charge. Montreal to Halifax or Jonquierre or Senneterre = will not trigger the minimum mileage charge.

c. Charges for adding, adding and switching,cutting, cutting and switching,and switching can add up to a significant cost element on some trips. ADDING ($250) is when a train backs down against your car and the crew couples it to your car. CUTTING ($250) is when a train crew "pulls the pin", uncouples from your car and pulls = away, leaving your car standing at a location. ADDING AND SWITCHING ($600) is when a switcher moves your car from a certain location and then couples it to a train. CUTTING AND SWITCHING ($600) is when a switcher couples to your car, then uncouples it from a train and moves it to some location. SWITCHING ($350) is when a switcher couples to your car, parked in location A, and moves it to location B, then uncouples, leaving it parked in location B.

d . Toronto has become more problematic as a destination. There is no parking at Toronto Union Station. Via is unwilling to park a PV at their Toronto Maintenance Center (TMC). This precludes travel on the joint Amtrak-Via Maple Leaf between New York, Albany-Rensselaer and Toronto, including a one night "turn with the trainset" at Toronto. Via is willing to consider operating PVs on trains that pass through Toronto en-route to another destination, but did not identify any specific trains in their current timetable that meet that criteria.

e . As a result of the Toronto parking prohibition, travel on Via trains between Toronto and destinations such as Montreal, Ottawa, Sarnia, Windsor and Niagara Falls is not feasible at this time.

f . June 15 through October 10, 2011 will be the peak season for travel on The Ocean. A PARK observation car will be assigned to the train during that period. Requests for PV travel on The Ocean at non-peak times, when a PARK observation car is not in the consist, will be considered, but will require lease of (and payment for) a Renaissance transition car. The PV owner must pay the daily lease fee for use of the Renaissance transition car for each day, or any portion of a day, the car is reserved for his use. The Renaissance transition car lease fee is in addition to=20 all of the charges for the PV itself.

g . Consists are made of one locomotive and up to 8 cars. If a PV is operated as a ninth car, then the use of an extra locomotive (if available) will be billed to the car owner. The Ocean's consist requires two locomotives. Although Via did not specify a number for The Ocean, in view of the one to eight ratio, it appears that a Renaissance transition car and a PV operated as the 17th and 18th cars in The Ocean's consist would trigger a requirement for a third locomotive.

h . If a consist is operating as a run-through train, PVs will only be switched into or out of a consist at the original and final terminal, not at any intermediate destinations.

i. Taxes are a significant add-on to the tariff charges. The Federal sales tax is 5.0% of the total Via charges. The Provincial sales tax is 8.5%, which is levied on the sum of the total Via charges and the Federal Sales Tax. Example: Total Via tariff charges $5000.00, Federal Sales Tax $250.00, Provincial Sales Tax $446.25, Total Via invoice $5696.25.