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7 hours ago, smallspy said:

That's not what VIA's site says. The plans are that there will continue to be twice-weekly service between Vancouver and Toronto, with a third departure that will travel only between Vancouver and Edmonton. 


Dan

Interesting.  That might suggest some more aggressive capital work next summer.

Responding to your earlier comment about double tracking between Edmonton and Winnipeg, at 60mi/year that will take a while at that rate.  You probably have access to current info but timetables from 2007 for the Rivers, Watrous and Wainwright subdivisions show at that time only a few very short sections of double track.  CN hasn't been very timid with capital expansion for a long time.

Someone commented on the prairie north line.  I'm not sure how much CN is utilizing it or what the condition is.  CP seems to be using their northern line a lot more.  CP has a lot more tanker trains passing through Saskatoon.  Last Saturday there was a bit of a traffic jam through Sutherland yard with trains waiting on the main line in the middle of the city.  CP invested in improvements to the line when Fred Green was CEO to handle more, heavier and longer trains.   That work began a few years after the story I linked to about CN ripping out double track near Jasper.  Hunter Harrison was running CP for a relatively short time compared to his tenure at CN.  I've always though of Harrison as a short term planner who shies away from capital investment for short term efficiency gains at the cost of longer term health.  While CPs operating ratio during Green's tenure was pretty poor compared to the North American average, I think the work that he lead is showing dividends allowing CP to better accommodate recent traffic growth.

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On 10/1/2018 at 4:23 PM, ghYHZ said:

3/week since Jan. 1990. In the early '70s there was a daily Canadian on CP and a daily Super Continental on CN

I stand corrected.  A book I read some time ago suggested CP dropped daily service on the Canadian before the VIA amalgamation. Timetables verify that was clearly not the case.

 

Regardless, VIA 1/2 doesn't have any trouble with any mainline siding length.  Perhaps it was the station tracks that @dowlingm is thinking about?  The Canadian most definitely has to be broken in two to fit in Pacific Central Station in Vancouver.

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I thought Canadian had been 4/weekly in peak season, got dropped to 3/weekly during cuts but lengthened, resulting in the wye at TMC being no longer able to turn it (and thus the trip up the Newmarket sub, reverse onto York and up Bala departure route).

Ring any bells for anyone?

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5 hours ago, dowlingm said:

I thought Canadian had been 4/weekly in peak season, got dropped to 3/weekly during cuts but lengthened, resulting in the wye at TMC being no longer able to turn it (and thus the trip up the Newmarket sub, reverse onto York and up Bala departure route).

Ring any bells for anyone?

VIA inherited daily (i.e. exactly one train per day) from both, CN (Super Continental) and CP (Canadian) and both remained daily (with a short break on the CN line between 1981 and 1985) until the bloodbath of January 1990, after which the CP line was abandonned and only its name survived. Tri-weekly service since then, which was cut back in 2012 to 2 trains per week outside the peak summer months.

 

As for the wye at TMC, you can measure it on Google Earth, but it’s maybe good for 6 cars, so way too short (unless you want to split the consist 4 or 5 times)...

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15 hours ago, Viafreak said:

Probably he is thinking of the station tracks. I believe the Canadian is on two tracks at certain stations to help passengers not have to walk so far to the station concourse. I believe its only done at Winnipeg and Vancouver. I could be wrong about that.

The only station that I'm aware of that the Canadian is split up (sometimes into 3) is Vancouver's Pacific Central .

At Winnipeg golf carts are used for those who can't walk the lengh of the platform. (Same is done in Halifax with the Ocean) 

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13 hours ago, Viafreak said:

Probably he is thinking of the station tracks. I believe the Canadian is on two tracks at certain stations to help passengers not have to walk so far to the station concourse. I believe its only done at Winnipeg and Vancouver. I could be wrong about that.

While I haven't been on any of the "monster" Canadians, I've been on a couple of 20+ car ones and not once has the train ever been split at Winnipeg for accessibility reasons. For equipment reasons, sure, but not because it was "too long".


Dan

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Here is the new schedule for the Canadian based on ReserVIA starting April 23.

Westbound

  • #1 Departing Toronto 22:00 on day 2 and 6; arriving Vancouver 18:00
  • #1 Departing Toronto 14:00 on day 3 and 7; arriving Vancouer 10:00
  • #3 Departing Edmonton 03:06 on day 1; arriving Vancouver 10:00
  • 3d23h

Eastbound

  • #2 Departing Vancouver 17:00 on day 1 and 5; arriving Toronto 19:00
  • #2 Departing Vancouver 12:00 on day 2; arriving Toronto 14:00
  • No eastbound Vancouver-Edmonton service

So let's recap... Westbound 4/week on Toronto-Vancovuer and 1/week on Edmonton/Vancouver. Eastbound 3/week on Vancouver-Toronto, same on Edmonton/Vancouver.

It was not supposed to be a reduction of service? ?

Quote

On ReserVIA :

As the summer 2019 schedule for the Canadian is being finalized, please note that some arrival and departure times are still subject to change. 

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9 hours ago, FelixINX said:

Here is the new schedule for the Canadian based on ReserVIA starting April 23.

Westbound

  • #1 Departing Toronto 22:00 on day 2 and 6; arriving Vancouver 18:00
  • #1 Departing Toronto 14:00 on day 3 and 7; arriving Vancouer 10:00
  • #3 Departing Edmonton 03:06 on day 1; arriving Vancouver 10:00
  • 3d23h

Eastbound

  • #2 Departing Vancouver 17:00 on day 1 and 5; arriving Toronto 19:00
  • #2 Departing Vancouver 12:00 on day 2; arriving Toronto 14:00
  • No eastbound Vancouver-Edmonton service

So let's recap... Westbound 4/week on Toronto-Vancovuer and 1/week on Edmonton/Vancouver. Eastbound 3/week on Vancouver-Toronto, same on Edmonton/Vancouver.

It was not supposed to be a reduction of service? ?

That doesn't make sense. How does the train get back from Vancouver to Edmonton? There needs to be another eastbound departure - maybe on a date you weren't searching up?

EDIT: Searching myself, there is a #4 heading eastbound from Vancouver to Edmonton on day 2, departing at 17:00 (the normal #2 departure time) and arriving at 20:50 in Edmonton on day 3.

Find it interesting they'd be putting two Canadian departures on the same day... when was this the last time there was scheduled more than one departure on the same day? Also VIA has a nice big warning:

"As the summer 2019 schedule for the Canadian is being finalized, please note that some arrival and departure times are still subject to change. "

So I would expect that some of these oddities (such as 4 departures from Toronto and 3 from Vancouver, and possibly the 2 departures in 1 day from Vancouver) would get fixed by the time the final schedule is released.

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10 hours ago, FelixINX said:

Here is the new schedule for the Canadian based on ReserVIA starting April 23.

Westbound

  • #1 Departing Toronto 22:00 on day 2 and 6; arriving Vancouver 18:00
  • #1 Departing Toronto 14:00 on day 3 and 7; arriving Vancouer 10:00
  • #3 Departing Edmonton 03:06 on day 1; arriving Vancouver 10:00
  • 3d23h

Eastbound

  • #2 Departing Vancouver 17:00 on day 1 and 5; arriving Toronto 19:00
  • #2 Departing Vancouver 12:00 on day 2; arriving Toronto 14:00
  • No eastbound Vancouver-Edmonton service

So let's recap... Westbound 4/week on Toronto-Vancovuer and 1/week on Edmonton/Vancouver. Eastbound 3/week on Vancouver-Toronto, same on Edmonton/Vancouver.

It was not supposed to be a reduction of service? ?

On one hand, I'm disappointed that they didn't take this as an opportunity to restore service to Calgary.

On the other, the Rocky Mountaineer is going to raise hell over VIA running a Rockies only section of the Canadian.

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1 hour ago, Articulated said:

That doesn't make sense. How does the train get back from Vancouver to Edmonton? There needs to be another eastbound departure - maybe on a date you weren't searching up?

EDIT: Searching myself, there is a #4 heading eastbound from Vancouver to Edmonton on day 2, departing at 17:00 (the normal #2 departure time) and arriving at 20:50 in Edmonton on day 3.

Find it interesting they'd be putting two Canadian departures on the same day... when was this the last time there was scheduled more than one departure on the same day? Also VIA has a nice big warning:

"As the summer 2019 schedule for the Canadian is being finalized, please note that some arrival and departure times are still subject to change. "

So I would expect that some of these oddities (such as 4 departures from Toronto and 3 from Vancouver, and possibly the 2 departures in 1 day from Vancouver) would get fixed by the time the final schedule is released.

When I checked last night, the #4 wasn't there.... it has been added after my visit!

This morning, you cannot book any trip on the #1,#2,#3,#4. They are all mark as "Sold out". Looks like they are not ready yet!

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14 minutes ago, FelixINX said:

 

1 hour ago, Articulated said:

So I would expect that some of these oddities (such as 4 departures from Toronto and 3 from Vancouver, and possibly the 2 departures in 1 day from Vancouver) would get fixed by the time the final schedule is released.

It is not an oddity; it is a common practice at Via. Trains 601 and 603 depart Gare Centrale at the same time and splits at Hervey. Ditto for trains 14 and 16, that used to be coupled until Matapédia. Surely a full trainset will be left in Edmonton as the rest of the convoy continues towards Toronto.

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1 minute ago, webfil said:

It is not an oddity; it is a common practice at Via. Trains 601 and 603 depart Gare Centrale at the same time and splits at Hervey. Ditto for trains 14 and 16, that used to be coupled until Matapédia.

I was speaking specifically to the Canadian, not VIA in general. If it was system-wide, you could count every trip in the Corridor.

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8 hours ago, webfil said:

It is not an oddity; it is a common practice at Via. Trains 601 and 603 depart Gare Centrale at the same time and splits at Hervey. Ditto for trains 14 and 16, that used to be coupled until Matapédia. Surely a full trainset will be left in Edmonton as the rest of the convoy continues towards Toronto.

Train 2 and 4 doesn't depart at the same time. Departures are respectively at 12:00 and 17:00.

I may have found what's wrong: they have kept the summer 2018 schedule with the summer 2019. That may explains why there is more departures...

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Press conference with a VIA announcement:
 
I am proud to join the
 VIA Rail Canada team to announce that VIA Rail Canada has awarded a contract valued at $16.4 million to Rail GD to completely refurbish and transform four dining cars intended for use on the long-haul train, the Canadian. Through this investment, people from across the country will be able to appreciate the expertise that the people of the Gaspe have to offer. This announcement confirms that our local businesses, such as Rail GD, are doing remarkable work.
 
43594427_2419229941425726_33045856676143
43828562_2419229914759062_65012539425449
 

And the official VIA press release: https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/media-room/latest-news/46855/10-october-2018-rail-gd-new-richmond-qc-to-renovate-via

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From the news release:
 

Quote

 

The work to be completed in the second quarter of 2020 will include:

  • Installing a new kitchen;
  • installing devices to make the cars Wi-Fi ready for future deployment;
  • carrying out a mechanical upgrading;
  • replacing various electronic/electrical components.


 

Yeah, sounds like just a replacing end of life kitchen equipment and associated electrical, and installing a WiFi access point.

The dining room and fixtures on the trips I've taken is still in great shape no need or value in replacing those.

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6 hours ago, dbdb said:

From the news release:
 

Yeah, sounds like just a replacing end of life kitchen equipment and associated electrical, and installing a WiFi access point.

The dining room and fixtures on the trips I've taken is still in great shape no need or value in replacing those.

Would that include LED lighting? 

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On 10/11/2018 at 11:26 PM, 2281 said:

So this went well...

Train 2 is currently 17 hours late. As such, tonight's train 1 is delayed until tomorrow.

That train has just had a bad run of cascading delays:

  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on September 28 at 12:24 (24' late) and was terminated in Capreol on October 02 at 16:18 (12h50 late).
  • Departed Capreol as Train 1 on October 03 at 07:01 (54' late) and arrived in Vancouver on October 07 at 04:50 (10h50 late).
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on October 07 at 18:00 (6h late) and arrived in Toronto on October 12 at 06:47 (16h47 late).
  • Departed Toronto as Train 1 on October 12 at 13:41 (15h41 late) and has departed Sioux Lookout today at 17:49 (en-route 17h39 late).

To compare, the other trains operating in the same period:

  • Departed Toronto as Train 1 on September 29 at 22:05 (5' late) and arrived in Vancouver on October 05 at 02:45 (8h45 late).
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on September 30 at 12:00 (on-time) and arrived in Toronto on October 04 at 12:07 (1h53 EARLY).
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on October 02 at 14:25 (2h25 late) and arrived in Toronto on October 06 at 18:19 (4h19 late).
  • Departed Toronto as Train 1 on October 04 at 22:00 (on-time) and arrived in Vancouver on October 08 at 15:04 (2h56 EARLY).
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on October 05 at 12:24 (24' late) and arrived in Toronto on October 09 at 14:13 (13' late).
  • Departed Toronto as Train 1 on October 07 at 00:15 (2h15 late) and arrived in Vancouver on October 10 at 17:53 (7' EARLY).
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on October 09 at 12:00 (on-time) and arrived in Toronto today at 12:31 (1h29 EARLY).
  • Departed Toronto as Train 1 on October 09 at 22:09 (9' late) and arrived today in Vancouver at 17:42 (18' EARLY)
  • Departed Vancouver as Train 2 on October 12 at 12:00 (on-time) has arrived today in Edmonton at 21:00 (en-route 4h40 late).
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