The VIA Rail Canada Police Service (VRCPS) ( (SPVRC)) is the federal

railway police Railroad police or railway police are people responsible for the protection of railroad (or railway) properties, facilities, revenue, equipment (train cars and locomotives), and personnel, as well as carried passengers and cargo. Railroad police ...

service of the Canadian intercity passenger rail operator, VIA Rail Canada Inc.. The agency was formed in 2015 under the ''Railway Safety Act'' with

Peter Lambrinakos Peter Lambrinakos (Greek: Παναγιώτης Λαμπρινάκος) is a Canadian police officer and corporate security executive, currently serving as the first Chief of Police of the VIA Rail Canada Police Service and additionally as VIA ...

becoming

VIA Rail Canada Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

’s first chief of police and chief of corporate security. As a railway police service, the agency is under the purview of the Department of Transport Canada''.''

Authority

As indicated under Canada's federal ''Railway Safety Act'', VIA Rail police constables are appointed by a judge of a superior court for the enforcement of the laws of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

or a province in so far as their enforcement relates to the protection of property owned, possessed or administered by VIA Rail Canada and for the protection of persons and property on their property. VIA Rail Canada is mandated to operate intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada. The police constables have jurisdiction on property under the administration of VIA Rail Canada and in any place within 500 metres of property that VIA Rail Canada owns, possesses or administers.

Operations

The VIA Rail Police deploy at VIA Rail passenger

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

s, along the right-of-ways on which VIA Rail trains operate, and on board VIA Rail

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

s to prevent security incidents and to exercise response and

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

capabilities including events such as the

2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot The 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot was a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in and against Canada in the form of disruption, destruction or derailment of trains operated by Canada's national passenger railway service, Via Rail Canada. The ...

. VIA Rail Police work closely with the other two federal railway police services, the CN Police and CP Police, as well as many local police services of jurisdiction throughout the country to respond and investigate both provincial and federal crimes, as well as undertake a collaborative approach with various law enforcement and community partners to educate the general public on topics related to rail safety in an effort to reduce track-level incidents.

VIA Rail Canada Terror Plot

On March 20, 2015, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser were sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to commit murder for a terrorist group following a conspiracy to derail a train route operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

and

, known as the ''

Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along t ...

'', running between

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Canine Unit

The VIA Rail Police has its own canine unit and deploys vapor wake dogs to alert their human police canine handlers to the presence of threats. The police dogs can quickly screen large crowds and they can follow the trail of a scent.

References

External links