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VIA Rail

So probably if the VIA train was on time it would not have to wait for the GO train. But I mean the GO train probably carries per people and Metrolinx owns the network so what do you expect?

Also past rouge Hill there are three tracks so you should be able to pass the GO train.

Also thats only a small percentage of track utilized if coming from Ottawa or Montreal. Blame CN for the 15min you lost between Brockville and Pickering not the 90 seconds between Pickering and Union station.
The only hold up we had before Pickering was at Smith Falls. We had to wait for another VIA train, heading in the opposite direction to pass us. It was only about 10 minutes.

Edit: Barring any issues, we're on track to get to Union "on time" for 4:33pm.

Edit 2: After Guildwood, we hit 150km/h again and passed the GO train. Perhaps I was too harsh. Should have more faith in the system.
 
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The only hold up we had before Pickering was at Smith Falls. We had to wait for another VIA train, heading in the opposite direction to pass us. It was only about 10 minutes.

Edit: Barring any issues, we're on track to get to Union "on time" for 4:33pm.

Edit 2: After Guildwood, we hit 150km/h again and passed the GO train. Perhaps I was too harsh. Should have more faith in the system.
So how late were you in the end?
 
So how late were you in the end?
1 minute, in what looks like a spot-on run end-to-end:
IMG_6075.jpeg


 
1 minute, in what looks like a spot-on run end-to-end:
View attachment 574463

Yep, 4:34pm. Manage to transfer at Union onto the 4:51pm, express to Clarkson. Already home.

My first round trip with VIA was a good one.

Just a tip for anyone booking at seat in the new Siemens Charger trains. If you want a proper window seat, get a seat in an even # row. I got 7D and had the window divider right beside me. Looked as if every seat in the odd rows were next to the window dividers.

Trip back to Toronto. Booked seat 13S on a LRC coach and had a window seat.

Both were business class.
 
I'm currently on VIA train #53 from Ottawa to Toronto.

We just passed Pickering GO station, and they announced that we caught up to a GO train and have to wait to get the green light to continue on. Also, we will have to travel at a reduced speed.
While on the CN network, the train was never slowed down by freight and routinely hit a top speed of 155km/h.

Clearly Metrolinx is becoming a problem for VIA more so than CN.

EDIT: We didn't stop for long, but we're travelling at a reduced speed of about 60km/h towards Guildwood.
As someone who frequently travels Toronto <--> Ottawa, I can confirm this is a really common issue.
 
So probably if the VIA train was on time it would not have to wait for the GO train. But I mean the GO train probably carries per people and Metrolinx owns the network so what do you expect?

Also past rouge Hill there are three tracks so you should be able to pass the GO train.

Also thats only a small percentage of track utilized if coming from Ottawa or Montreal. Blame CN for the 15min you lost between Brockville and Pickering not the 90 seconds between Pickering and Union station.
I have to kinda blame metrolinx too for bad dispatching. I took 67, we were already a bit late due to the heat slow,

We passed a westbound go train around whitby and stopped at Durham jct to wait for them to pass us, followed it to Guildwood, overtook them at Eglinton and had to wait for them again at Danforth to pass us, causing an additional 30 minutes of delay.
 
All of this points to a challenge when GO RER is built and then even worse when VIA HFR is built. Almost makes VIA HSR on their own dedicated ROW the whole way worth doing.
 
1 minute, in what looks like a spot-on run end-to-end:
View attachment 574463

Does this show VIA leaving Oshawa early, and four minutes early at that? I assume all ticketed passengers were recorded as boarded but it may then be unsurprising that they were ahead of slot when moving off CN and onto Metrolinx.
 
Does this show VIA leaving Oshawa early, and four minutes early at that? I assume all ticketed passengers were recorded as boarded but it may then be unsurprising that they were ahead of slot when moving off CN and onto Metrolinx.
Indeed, the “Location History” shows it at the next time point one minute ahead of the scheduled departure time:
IMG_6084.jpeg
 
I see VIA is adjusting the schedule of the ‘Ocean’ due to declining state of repair of the tracks - CN owned. That’s the second CN line where maintenance, or lack of it, is now impacting any sort of passenger rail revive.
 

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