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+--- Thread: VIA Rail (/showthread.php?tid=549)
RE: VIA Rail - D40LF - 05-22-2018
This may not be the most appropriate place to ask, but why do VIA tickets indicate more cars than to be operated? For instance, the last few trips of mine have been on cars 5 or 6, but there has never been any more than 4. It confuses everyone every time.
RE: VIA Rail - ijmorlan - 05-23-2018
(05-22-2018, 10:54 PM)D40LF Wrote: This may not be the most appropriate place to ask, but why do VIA tickets indicate more cars than to be operated? For instance, the last few trips of mine have been on cars 5 or 6, but there has never been any more than 4. It confuses everyone every time.
Are the cars not numbered from 1? Just speculating … maybe they plan for 6 and then don’t run Car 1 for some reason.
What I’m really asking is whether you ended up riding in a car numbered 6, or your ticket said 6 but you actually rode in 4.
RE: VIA Rail - plam - 05-23-2018
Car 1 usually seems to be reserved for business class, which they don't run going to Kitchener. Sometimes a second business car is 11. I don't think I've ever seen car 2, and maybe not 3. Perhaps it starts at 4. Then when they run to Kitchener they often seem to leave 4 empty and start at 5.
RE: VIA Rail - Coke6pk - 05-23-2018
Its a great question!
I've always hated how they have a customer service rep at each door calling out their train number, or directing you to the correct car. There are LED lights on the outside that indicate car number, but I've never seen them lit up EXCEPT when I'm getting off.
Coke
RE: VIA Rail - kps - 05-23-2018
VIA has such a ridiculous boarding system. Why make it as annoying as boarding a plane? Just let people off and on and get going.
RE: VIA Rail - Markster - 05-23-2018
In my experience, the boarding procedure is mostly held up by the backlog caused by people climbing the stairs with their 3 huge pieces of luggage, and then the hallway blockage while they stash these into the luggage rack.
That, and the eternal wait while they operate the wheelchair lift.
Oh how i wish we could have level boarding.
RE: VIA Rail - ijmorlan - 05-23-2018
(05-23-2018, 01:11 PM)Markster Wrote: In my experience, the boarding procedure is mostly held up by the backlog caused by people climbing the stairs with their 3 huge pieces of luggage, and then the hallway blockage while they stash these into the luggage rack.
That, and the eternal wait while they operate the wheelchair lift.
Oh how i wish we could have level boarding.
I’ve heard various claims, but never anything that made any actual sense. The two claims I can remember are:
1) Expense: but given how much is being spent on Union Station right now, this is an absurd thing to bring up at that location, and elsewhere it doesn’t need to be much more than a wooden deck structure such as you might put at the back of your house.
2) Freight trains: irrelevant at Union Station and Ottawa; and at other locations gauntlet track, sidings, platform extenders, or bridging plates could be used.
On top of which, we don’t necessarily have to suddenly go to level boarding everywhere: it can be a platform-at-a-time upgrade. Also, a significant benefit would be had even by just raising the platform to the GO level-entry level. This would eliminate the need for those little stepstools and significantly reduce the height required to be climbed.
Overall, the inefficiency of Via’s station operations is unbelievable. How did things run in the 1940s when there were huge numbers of trains? I don’t think their current Union Station procedures could possibly have worked with that much traffic.
RE: VIA Rail - jamincan - 05-23-2018
They are slowly upgrading the platforms at the VIA station in Ottawa, but I think they're only starting with one at the moment, and Ottawa has significantly higher usage than Kitchener's station.
RE: VIA Rail - plam - 05-23-2018
(05-23-2018, 01:54 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Overall, the inefficiency of Via’s station operations is unbelievable. How did things run in the 1940s when there were huge numbers of trains? I don’t think their current Union Station procedures could possibly have worked with that much traffic.
If you look at old train schedules you'll see that they were pretty slow. Not sure they were optimizing dwell time.
RE: VIA Rail - Coke6pk - 05-24-2018
(05-23-2018, 05:18 PM)BrianT Wrote: The new station at King and Victoria might have level boarding. It will be a few years though.
There are 3 steps INSIDE the train... we need new rail cars before we can have true level boarding.
Coke
RE: VIA Rail - plam - 05-24-2018
(05-24-2018, 09:12 AM)Coke6pk Wrote:(05-23-2018, 05:18 PM)BrianT Wrote: The new station at King and Victoria might have level boarding. It will be a few years though.
There are 3 steps INSIDE the train... we need new rail cars before we can have true level boarding.
Those are on order. I hope the cars that we get will be level-boarding-capable.
RE: VIA Rail - danbrotherston - 05-24-2018
(05-24-2018, 09:12 AM)Coke6pk Wrote:(05-23-2018, 05:18 PM)BrianT Wrote: The new station at King and Victoria might have level boarding. It will be a few years though.
There are 3 steps INSIDE the train... we need new rail cars before we can have true level boarding.
Coke
These steps are optional--that is, the attendants activate them when the train pulls into the station. The top portion of the door can open to provide level boarding into the train. But this door is at a different level from those of the GO Trains (but I suspect the same as the UPX and other mainline rail trains--Quebec AMT trains have both high doors and low doors).
RE: VIA Rail - ijmorlan - 05-24-2018
(05-24-2018, 09:31 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: These steps are optional--that is, the attendants activate them when the train pulls into the station. The top portion of the door can open to provide level boarding into the train. But this door is at a different level from those of the GO Trains (but I suspect the same as the UPX and other mainline rail trains--Quebec AMT trains have both high doors and low doors).
And indeed I believe the main station in Montreal has high platforms. So it really is just a matter of upgrading platforms one at a time.
RE: VIA Rail - Canard - 05-24-2018
(05-24-2018, 09:28 AM)plam Wrote: Those are on order. I hope the cars that we get will be level-boarding-capable.
Not quite yet, but soon!
We don't know anything about the proposals or requirements of the tender.
RE: VIA Rail - Markster - 05-24-2018
Both Montreal and Quebec City have level boarding for VIA trains. It is glorious, and boarding/alighting is so much faster.