VIA Rail

[KevinL]

I wonder if the new Siemens coaches perform better in that regard.

[ac3r]

VIA Rail routes in jeopardy due to outdated train cars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdTd_m0UeeE

[nms]

The Global report suggested that 2035 would be the end point for the current long haul fleet.  Based on the experience for Amtrak (who would need to follow most of the same railroad restrictions that VIA does), how long would it take to order and commission a new fleet of 200 long-haul cars? Is 9 years enough time?

Their most recent fleet members, the Panarama Dome cars, were acquired from Colorado Railcar (now US Railcar) in 2002.

[Acitta]

Via rapid train on track to launch by mid-2030s, CEO confirms — could cut Montreal travel time in half with speeds of up to 200 km/h
The CEO of the Via Rail subsidiary spearheading plans for a rapid passenger train linking Toronto to Montreal through to Quebec City, says he is learning from rail projects like Metrolinx's Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

[SF22]

Mid-2030s is WAY sooner than I would have expected! It seems like we're finally taking HFR/HSR seriously in this country for once. I would visit Montreal for long weekend trips several times a year, if I could be there in 3.5 hrs plus whatever time the streamlined GO train to Union would take (70 minutes?). Kitchener city centre to Montreal city centre in under 5 hours would be fantastic, and absolutely faster than flying. It's so weird that I hardly hear anything about this project, though. I stumbled across it maybe 6 months ago on Twitter when the process was a few years in already. We should be shouting about this from the rooftops; it's an amazing undertaking for the country.

(And if we're lucky, by the time VIA looks to do phase 2 of this project to extend it into southwestern Ontario, Kitchener will have increased density and made itself the obvious choice to route through.)

[ac3r]

2030? So, more realistically 2050.

[SF22]

2030? So, more realistically 2050.

I mean, one of the groups putting together a proposal is the same team that built Montreal's REM, and look how fast they managed to get that project approved, built and operational.

[bravado]

I’m happy to hear it but my cynicism is dialled up to a million on this. Lowest hopes imaginable.

[tomh009]

The fact that the old running stock is falling apart is going to trigger some kind of decision.

[nms]

I think VIA is going madly off in all directions and doing its best to play catch-up on lots of files. While HFR will serve a higher density of the Canadian population, their long-distance, sleeper stock is the one that runs through the most ridings coast-to-coast. Once the current "new fleet" is brought online it will be interesting to see what kind of fleet renewal plans are floated to replace the long-distance Budd stock. The trains are visually iconic in so many ways, but I doubt that it makes sense to build a brand new train set and clad it in a Budd-like silver.

[KevinL]

There's a big resurgence of night trains in Europe right now, with new rolling stock coming on. Maybe Via could jump into that parade.

[ac3r]

It would be nice...if only the trains went faster. Cross country/province overnight trips are cool, but when you consider how painfully slow it takes to get anywhere on a VIA train it's hard to sell the whole uniqueness of overnight train trips to the consumer. Sure it's a nice experience - both the trips you are just looking to go to sleep and wake up in your destination and the multi-day voyages - but it's so damn slow you almost get a bit sick of it. It's an easier thing to sell in Europe because a lot of rail passengers are just travelling from A to B. In Canada, everything is so far apart that most people aren't going to want to sit on a train for 12, 24, 48+ hours unless it's the only option. So you have to find a way to make it marketable in Canada. That takes improving speed while also modernizing what a long distance journey on North American rail could be like.

If we had the ability to go faster and not get stuck on sidings because a billion kilometre long intermodal hotshot had priority then it could surely be possible to capitalize on the whole idea of trans-continental trains in 2024. To most of the people alive, the idea of named passenger trains is a thing of the past. Few remember names such as The Dominion, California Zephyr, Mainstreeter, Tamiami Champion and so on. They barely have a sense of the romanticism that it entailed. But if you could offer nice long trips that maybe take 2, 3 or 4 days and were sold as an experience rather than a cheap way to get somewhere then it could be possible to bring that romantic aspect back. You just have to ensure that the trans-continental experience you sell doesn't turn into crawling along a track through a forest, parking on a siding for 2 hours with nothing to see but a tree because some CN train hauling durable goods had the right of way so you fall asleep and wake up half way across Manitoba having missed all the views. That, unfortunately, is the hardest part to achieve.


Just do something like this...VIA. And make the coaches nice. The newest ones they added look fucking awful, like some sterile medical room or science fiction thing. They have zero soul. Fine if you're just going to be on it for 5-6 hours to get somewhere for the day but hardly something anyone would willingly pay money to "enjoy".