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Waiting for 30 Minutes

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10 hours ago, webfil said:

I'd say locals first, maybe with added tourist influx during peak periods (July-August). To the contrary of the Canadian, the fares and the schedule made the train competitive with the buses on medium- and long-distance, but with added comfort and amenities :

  • Montréal to Gaspé
    • by train, 2011 : ≥125 $
    • by bus, 2021 : 135 $
  • Montréal to Rimouski
    • by train, 2019 : ≥75 $
    • by bus, 2021 : 95 $

As for the schedule, the train would depart Gaspé in the afternoon and arrive in Montréal mid-morning the next day, while three bus would depart Gaspé per day, with one overnight run with departure from Gaspé around 9 PM and arrival in Montréal early in the morning the next day. The bus is thus quicker, but only for the portion east of Mont-Joli.

Thanks for the numbers on that, fascinating. I do recall far more locals on the Ocean in 2019 when I took it - although I had an entire economy car to myself after Moncton. Nova Scotians didn't seem to interested in it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I do apologize if this has been asked before. I just know I would be digging for hours. I had seen that 6403 has been renumbered to 6459. Was there any kind of backstory to why that happened

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13 hours ago, Catherine Wilkins said:

Hello ... G.A. ( 3,575 Posts, Member Since 2007 )

Copy the below URL into your Browser and within sixty seconds you will have your answer regarding 6403.

https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/VIA_Rail_Canada_F40PH-2

Keep up the good work, your contributions have been very helpful G.A.

Can we... just answer them? Why the need for giant font, inexplicably calling them out on their extensive participation in this forum, and sarcasm? @G.A the answer you are looking for is the following:

In July 2013, unit 6403 was renumbered 6459. This was done to avoid having 6403 "immortalized" on the new $10 polymer bills, which featured an image of The Canadian with 6403 leading, lest any accident or incident involve it.

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On 5/7/2021 at 5:20 PM, InfiNorth said:

Can we... just answer them? Why the need for giant font, inexplicably calling them out on their extensive participation in this forum, and sarcasm? @G.A

I can assure you there was no sarcasm or ill intent with that post. That's just the members posting style and was completely intended to complimentary in nature, and sincere.

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Dane said:

I can't take any credit for finding this: https://www.instagram.com/test111114332/

VIA's first Charger! I like the look. Hopefully we will see a more unified look to the fleet in the coming years - it's getting pretty rainbow-era-esque and the poor Canadian consist is a victim to too many ideas. 

Private account 

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2 hours ago, Dane said:

I can't take any credit for finding this: https://www.instagram.com/test111114332/

VIA's first Charger! I like the look. Hopefully we will see a more unified look to the fleet in the coming years - it's getting pretty rainbow-era-esque and the poor Canadian consist is a victim to too many ideas. 

 

1 hour ago, Doppelkupplung said:

Lookin saucy ?

Finally some up to date rolling stock lol 

 

8 minutes ago, John Oke said:

Private account 

Here’s the official account. 
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPWi67plpYQ/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Shaun said:

Looks like there is a plan for VIA to start commuter service from Kitchener using RDC's. I wasn't aware that there are any operational units left? Aren't they all used in Sudbury?

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2016/03/04/via-rail-calls-on-old-trains-for-new-service-to-kitchener.html

Ummmm.....that was an article from 2016. 

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4 hours ago, Shaun said:

Looks like there is a plan for VIA to start commuter service from Kitchener using RDC's. I wasn't aware that there are any operational units left? Aren't they all used in Sudbury?

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2016/03/04/via-rail-calls-on-old-trains-for-new-service-to-kitchener.html

That reminds me, I think I saw what where RDC's being tested on the Kingston or GO Sub a few years ago near Ajax. It was hard to tell as I was on the 401 at the time and it was at night, but I swore it was a single car RDC being tested.

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17 hours ago, John Oke said:

That reminds me, I think I saw what where RDC's being tested on the Kingston or GO Sub a few years ago near Ajax. It was hard to tell as I was on the 401 at the time and it was at night, but I swore it was a single car RDC being tested.

I recall RDC tests on the Guelph Sub, but I am not aware of any plans to deploy RDCs anywhere outside of Southwestern Ontario in the Corridor and the progressing fleet renewal while demand for rail travel is still depressed by a pandemic obviates the need of doing so:

http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/an-extended-via-85-hurtles-past-me-at-mile-50-gexr-guelph-sub-todays-consist-was-via-f40ph-3-6446-the-usual-2-hep-cars-then-f40ph-3-6401-rdc-4-6251-rdc-2-62https://cptdb.ca/messenger/08-and-rdc-1-6105-the-rdcs-were

 

Nevertheless, CN seems to own and use at least one RDC for testing purposes, which can be seen here on the Fergus Subdivision between Guelph and Cambridge:

http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/testing-the-branches-for-the-first-time-cn-1501-is-southbound-on-the-former-cnr-fergus-subdivision-railiners-rdcs-would-have-plied-this-line-until-sometime-in-the-1960s-by-1969-railiners-oper

 

Edit: I found a rail fan's report from October 2017 claiming that "Three RDC’s recently spent time testing on the Alexandria sub in Ottawa"...

Edited by Urban Sky
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Saw this post on the Rail Fans Canada discord.

What an awful and shameful move. Taking even more steps to discourage rail travel to people who need to use it. You don't see identity checks on trains in the UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, etc. Only on the Eurostar do you see identity and security checks, because it's an international service. Via Rail has never been an international service. It serves a similar purpose for short trips like GO Transit. You never see identity checks on GO Transit.

All the while making train travel just as painful as air travel. For instance, I stopped using Greyhound precisely because they do completely meaningless identity and security checks even on short routes like Ottawa to Toronto.

This stands in complete opposition to improving rail service and making it more accessible, all the while being a smokescreen and a vanity project to give a falsified impression of better security. Identity checks are not needed for any domestic rail service, ever, and does absolutely nothing to improve security. Having a monitored text service, like the British Transport Police 61016, would help a lot more at improving security.

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So to sum up: Instead of reinstating service beyond the current skeleton frequency levels, they somehow have enough in the budget for a pilot project revolving around security checks? They're not an airline.

Message to VIA: This is NOT the thing you should be focusing on. Reinstating regular service levels back to before the pandemic SHOULD BE what you should focus on.

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2 minutes ago, Chris W said:

So to sum up: Instead of reinstating service beyond the current skeleton frequency levels, they somehow have enough in the budget for a pilot project revolving around security checks? They're not an airline.

Message to VIA: This is NOT the thing you should be focusing on. Reinstating regular service levels back to before the pandemic SHOULD BE what you should focus on.

Exactly. I always share this video to anyone who asks what's the experience on rail travel in Canada like:

 

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17 hours ago, anyfong said:

What an awful and shameful move. Taking even more steps to discourage rail travel to people who need to use it.

 

Sorry I don't agree.  It's checking ID and that's it.  "Oh it's SUCH a hastle to take the train because I have to take 5 seconds out of my time to show my ID...."  If you want to think of something shameful then you should worry about them not putting everyone's bags through a metal detector. 

You also can't compare verifying identification with wanting to improve service in an area.  If VIA restores or improves service to areas that previously had cutbacks, then people will take it regardless of whether they have to show ID or not.

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42 minutes ago, Michel said:

Sorry I don't agree.  It's checking ID and that's it.  "Oh it's SUCH a hastle to take the train because I have to take 5 seconds out of my time to show my ID...."  If you want to think of something shameful then you should worry about them not putting everyone's bags through a metal detector. 

You also can't compare verifying identification with wanting to improve service in an area.  If VIA restores or improves service to areas that previously had cutbacks, then people will take it regardless of whether they have to show ID or not.

I agree with both of you. No, ID checks are not the end of the world. However, they mark a seriously misguided set of priorities. There is genuinely no need for ID checks, so regardless of whether that pittance of money would even be a drop in the bucket of that needed to reinstate other services, it's still a waste of money. 

And now have a genuine question: I know that rapid transit, highways, and bus service create induced demand like widened highways do, does this apply to very infrequent (<5 times a day) long-distance rail services as well? Will North Bay, for instance, see an increased demand for housing and amenities if/once the Northlander is reinstated? 

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