VIA Rail

[trainfanjacob8]

On the TRTO->WDON right now. I’m shocked at how rough the ride is. It’s like being on a plan with constant turbulence. Makes it obvious how far we have to go in order to be ready form HSR.

I wonder how much of it is the equipment, and how much of it is the track. Personally, I find the new Venture sets to be much smoother and quieter then LRC and HEP equipment. In regards to the track, it is frustrating to see how many slow orders have popped up on CN track in SWO over the last few years. Kitchener-London, Komoka-Glencoe, and Strathroy-Watford all have long sections of reduced speeds.

 

[crs1026]

I wonder how much of it is the equipment, and how much of it is the track. Personally, I find the new Venture sets to be much smoother and quieter then LRC and HEP equipment. In regards to the track, it is frustrating to see how many slow orders have popped up on CN track in SWO over the last few years. Kitchener-London, Komoka-Glencoe, and Strathroy-Watford all have long sections of reduced speeds.

So long as VIA operates on landlord freight railroads that handle frequent heavy freight equipment, this is what one can expect.

It would be hugely costly to maintain those lines to the quality where your drink won't spill (as it won't on TGV, or even Brightline),

- Pau

 

[Admiral Beez]

It would be hugely costly to maintain those lines to the quality where your drink won't spill (as it won't on TGV, or even Brightline),

I remember taking the train from Kaohsiung to Taipei and on my phone's GPS we were traveling at 300 kph, and I felt almost nothing. I also recall how wide the train was, five seats across. As a 53 y/o, I don't think I'll see this in Canada in my lifetime.

 

[micheal_can]

While people do still ride the whole way in economy, the transportation element in our long distance trains has diminished and is pretty much a dead business. The coach portions of the Canadian consists are markedly smaller than even a few years ago.

Adding the fourth night to the schedule didn't help..

The long distance trains are about liesure travel. New equipment will have to reflect this.

- Paul

A fleet replacement is a good time to fix that. With the push to correct the problems of on time due to freight, by the time the first replacements come, the schedule could be fixed. That does not mean that the view should be ignored, but the 2are not mutually exclusive.

 

[crs1026]

A fleet replacement is a good time to fix that. With the push to correct the problems of on time due to freight, by the time the first replacements come, the schedule could be fixed. That does not mean that the view should be ignored, but the 2are not mutually exclusive.

So, by the time we have procured the equipment, we will also have invested in sufficient track capacity to allow the passenger trains to overtake all the slower freights in the way?

You are missing a memo or two. The slower schedule is there for a reason, it matches the pace of the Canadian to the pace of the freight trains ahead, and gives the Canadian lots of time to hold sidings to let opposing trains pass. We'd be building a lot of new sidings and double track to restore the historical timings, otherwise the impacts on freight would be unacceptable.

- Paul

 

[micheal_can]

So, by the time we have procured the equipment, we will also have invested in sufficient track capacity to allow the passenger trains to overtake all the slower freights in the way?

You are missing a memo or two. The slower schedule is there for a reason, it matches the pace of the Canadian to the pace of the freight trains ahead, and gives the Canadian lots of time to hold sidings to let opposing trains pass. We'd be building a lot of new sidings and double track to restore the historical timings, otherwise the impacts on freight would be unacceptable.

- Paul

I would hope that by then the padded schedule can be adhered to religiously. As far as un padding the schedule, Maybe by then CN will see they need to invest in more capacity. Maybe they will see over siding trains cannot work well, and will lengthen sidings to lengthen overall train lengths. I do have hopes of Via's trans not stopping or slowing down below track speed except for stations, but I know that is not realistically possible without serious infrastructure investment.

 

[Mihairokov]

I wonder how much of it is the equipment, and how much of it is the track. Personally, I find the new Venture sets to be much smoother and quieter then LRC and HEP equipment. In regards to the track, it is frustrating to see how many slow orders have popped up on CN track in SWO over the last few years. Kitchener-London, Komoka-Glencoe, and Strathroy-Watford all have long sections of reduced speeds.

Some of it is for sure. I'm not an expert but there is definitely more "sway" on the older cars compared to the newer ones. Riding the Corridor once I was put into a much older car for Car 5 at the end and it swayed enough to make one nauseous.

 

[Urban Sky]

Some of it is for sure. I'm not an expert but there is definitely more "sway" on the older cars compared to the newer ones. Riding the Corridor once I was put into a much older car for Car 5 at the end and it swayed enough to make one nauseous.

Ah, the famous ‚wiggle waggon‘ (a HEP-I car at the end of a mixed Corridor consist) user „tysmo“ (I’m pretty sure he’s also here on UT, but couldn’t remember his user name) keeps mentioning on the „Rail Fan Canada“ Discord server:

Because when you have a very light car between two very heavy cars, or a string of very light cars top and tail with very heavy cars, the force the cars exert on each other doesn't match the force exerted by the locomotive. The most obvious way of seeing this is how the slack comes in and out, which is one reason why I call a HEP car on the end of a rake of LRC coaches a "wiggle wagon"

 

[lenaitch]

Maybe by then CN will see they need to invest in more capacity. Maybe they will see over siding trains cannot work well, and will lengthen sidings to lengthen overall train lengths

You do understand how the 'host-tenant' relationship works, right?

 

[crs1026]

Maybe by then CN will see they need to invest in more capacity. Maybe they will see over siding trains cannot work well, and will lengthen sidings to lengthen overall train lengths.

Their CEO has said they are doing just this..... to the extent that is required to make their freight operations efficient.

Going an extra mile to add additional capacity beyond what CN needs just to assist VIA is a different matter.... CN is not a charity. And you consistently underestimate just how much that investment in additional capacity would cost.

- Paul

 

[micheal_can]

You do understand how the 'host-tenant' relationship works, right?

I do, but i doubt they can kick Via out.I also seethe push for getting on time Via trains as something the government will push for.

Their CEO has said they are doing just this..... to the extent that is required to make their freight operations efficient.

Going an extra mile to add additional capacity beyond what CN needs just to assist VIA is a different matter.... CN is not a charity. And you consistently underestimate just how much that investment in additional capacity would cost.

- Paul

"The Canadian(Trudeau/Pollivre/whomever is in charge) government is investing in Canada's supply chain."

I am not naive enough to think the won't come with their tin cup asking for the government to pay for it. If several hundred billion dollars is what is needed to have passenger trains moving at track speed and not be waiting fora freight, especially along the Corridor, it would be worth it.

 

[Urban Sky]

Sure, we don‘t have the money to deliver basic amenities like clean running water, sanitary schools, paved roads or cell phone connectivity to all communities in this country, but lets splash something like 10% of our GDP (some C$3 trillion) just to ensure that our passenger trains don‘t have to wait for pesky freight trains…!

Jesus, I thought this thread was intended for serious discussions, not some delusional daydreaming…

 

[micheal_can]

Sure, we don‘t have the money to deliver basic amenities like clean running water, sanitary schools, paved roads or cell phone connectivity to all of our communities, but lets splash 10% or so of our GDP (some C$3 trillion) on passenger trains…

Jesus, this thread is intended for serious discussions, not some delusional daydreaming…

The water problem could be fixed if there was political will to do it. No different than anything else. We decided on new Via Corridor equipment over fixing water systems.

 

[turbanplanner]

Sure, we don‘t have the money to deliver basic amenities like clean running water, sanitary schools, paved roads or cell phone connectivity to all communities in this country, but lets splash something like 10% of our GDP (some C$3 trillion) just to ensure that our passenger trains don‘t have to wait for pesky freight trains…!

Jesus, I thought this thread was intended for serious discussions, not some delusional daydreaming…

Isn't the water issue usually to do with the reserves? Even if things go well I hear often there are no qualified people to run them as they go down south for better opportunities

 

[Urban Sky]

Isn't the water issue usually to do with the reserves? Even if things go well I hear often there are no qualified people to run them as they go down south for better opportunities

If people leave because they don‘t enjoy the amenities and job opportunities which virtually all other Canadians can (rightly) take for granted, why should we blame them and not those policy makers which allocate the resources which are used to decide where living conditions and economic prospects are improved and where they stay as miserable (and unworthy of a „rich country“) as they are?

It is really a shame that this excellent article (and I‘m really not a fan of the Toronto Star, usually) is hidden behind a paywall, but it‘s well worth the $4 for a 2-month trial to read how certain comparatively large (1000+ inhabitants) First Nation communities are denied paved roads, mould-free school buildings and cell-phone reception, whereas smaller non-indigenous communities nearby are of course provided with such luxuries:

$349B needed for First Nations’ infrastructure gap: report

Honestly, I don‘t know what‘s more pathetic: how we treat the people who‘s land and resources we stole or how we have the audacity to keep a straight face while blaming them for their misery we are perpetuating by systematically depriving them of resources…?

Anyways, I digress…