Dan416
Senior Member
Goddamn airlines, halting progress for VIA. VIA could be so much better. It has so much potential.
Don't I recall that there was a supreme court decision or something requiring VIA to change it's seat configurations to accommodate people with disabilities? If so this announcement could actually just be the government being forced to respond to said requirement with a little top up for system improvement rather than a new found interest in train infrastructure.
You raise an interesting point, seantrans. Could GO sign a deal with VIA to operate their trains instead of CN/CP? It could be a big revenue source for VIA.
No higher frequencies, high speed rail, new destinations, exclusive passenger right of way, or electrification. Not too exciting. The other day I had a conversation with some friends from the Czech Republic and the UK about who had the worst train system. I mentioned that we had a city with over a million people that you couldn't get to by train. That ended the debate.
Some of the worst examples of transport deficiency include the fact that cities in the hundreds of thousands that sit virtually next to one another have no connection to each other by rail, bus, or anything other than a car.
Try going from Guelph to Kitchener, a distance of 20km, by anything except for about 4 Greyhound buses per day. Brantford to Cambridge (24km) has nothing. The worst: the 80km from KW (pop. 450k) to Hamilton (pop. 600k) is only connected by 5 or 6 Greyhound buses that take over an hour-and-a-half to travel.
Goddamn airlines, halting progress for VIA. VIA could be so much better. It has so much potential.
Full articleDec 11, 2007 10:58 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL–Via Rail's fleet of F40 locomotives will be rebuilt after the company announced a five-year, $101.5-million contract with CAD Railway Services Ltd.
Via said Tuesday that 53 F40s will be refurbished by CAD, which is wholly owned by Global Railway Industries Ltd. (TSX: GBI).
The work begins in 2008 and is aimed at making the trains more environmentally friendly.
The money is part of the $691.9 million that the federal government recently announced it would spend on Via over five years.Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and Via Rail president Paul Cote were among those present at a news conference in Montreal for the announcement.
"Not only is this investment in the locomotives good for the environment but it will also allow us to improve the punctuality of the trains," Cannon said.