The Iron Horse's Lament: A Tale of Mediocrity and Submission

In the great expanse of the northern lands, where the iron serpents wind their way through the sleeping masses, a peculiar malady afflicts the mechanical beasts that bear the burden of human cargo. The Via Rail, that government-preserved relic, stands as a testament to the spiritual decay of a people who have forgotten how to demand greatness.

Behold, how the herd accepts their fate with such docile resignation! They wait in their terminals like sheep in their pens, believing themselves free while bound by the chains of bureaucratic incompetence.

In a most revealing incident, passengers aboard Train 622 found themselves imprisoned in their metal cage for ten hours, a duration that would test even the most resolute spirit. Yet what transpired within those confines speaks volumes of our age's decadence. {image1} The masses, accustomed to their comforts, grew restless when denied their precious sustenance, save for meager offerings of salted pretzels.

The numbers speak their damning truth: a mere 59 percent of these iron chariots arrive at their appointed hour, a figure that would make any self-respecting warrior of efficiency weep. Yet more telling still is how this performance has deteriorated from a once-proud 82 percent, like a strong beast gradually succumbing to a wasting disease.

See how they compensate for their failures with mere monetary tokens! $1.7 million in travel credits - as if time itself could be bought and sold like common marketplace goods!

{image2} Within the maintenance centers, where the mechanical hearts of these vessels are tended, lies a deeper truth. The railway claims but three percent of its own domain, while bowing before the greater powers of freight carriers, particularly the mighty CN Rail. Like a servant walking behind his master, passenger trains must yield to the commerce-bearing behemoths.

Yet across the border, where the American Amtrak rules its rails with somewhat greater authority, the tale differs. Through legislation forged decades past, these passenger vessels command greater respect, achieving a 75 percent punctuality that, while far from perfection, towers above the Canadian submission.

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How the mighty have fallen! These modern travelers, these last men, content themselves with mediocrity, accepting delays as natural as rainfall. They have created a system that mirrors their own weakness - reliable only in its unreliability!

The advocates for change, like Transport Action Canada's Peter Miasek, cry out in the wilderness for priority status, for passing tracks, for the basic dignity of punctuality. Yet their voices echo in chambers filled with bureaucrats who speak of future solutions while the present crumbles.

The government whispers sweet promises of high-speed rail, a distant dream that serves only to pacify the masses. Meanwhile, the daily indignity continues, a parade of delays that has become so commonplace that the exceptional has become the expected.

Let those who seek real change understand: it is not in the nature of the herd to demand excellence. They must first overcome themselves, rise above their complacent acceptance of mediocrity, and forge their will into something harder than steel rails.

Thus stands Via Rail, a mirror reflecting the spiritual condition of a people who have forgotten how to command their destiny. Until the sleeping masses awaken to demand more than mere compensation credits and hollow promises, they shall remain bound to these iron tracks of mediocrity, punctual only in their disappointment.