Recent content by Catenary

As you say, the business case calls for a locomotive and a cab car. We've seen ONTC recently purchase some F40PH based NPCUs similar to what Amtrak uses. There would be lots of space in a unit like this to install a HEP generator, eliminating the need for a separate power car while allowing them...

There will be some old VIA locomotives on the market soon, but to some extent it doesn't matter if there are old ones locally, since the market is fairly integrated. ONTC got theirs from NRE, and there's no reason they couldn't go shopping in the US again. Prices are going to be similar no...

The key I see there isn't the revenue, it's the costs. What kind of system is so inefficient that adding another car is barely worth it? What was the staffing ratio? How else could costs be cut? The train consisted of a freight locomotive, power car for HEP, a couple of coaches, and a cafe car...

There's room on the Winchester Sub - CP pulled out the second track this past summer, leaving only a few long sidings. They installed CTC to manage it, and sent the CWR out to improve the MMA/CMQ. If a bypass was needed badly enough, there is room to re-lay that second track, sidings might not...

Yes, a bus would probably provide better service than a train by some metrics for the same amount of money. That doesn't mean they're comparable though. First, the train has significantly better optics than a bus, and while that might be semantics when it comes to LRT vs. bus in an urban...

An important note is that while this might be the first PRESTO equipped agency taking open payments, it is not a PRESTO installation. Ottawa owns their own equipment and already runs a shadow fare system for bus transfers, train tickets, multi-day disposable RFID passes and...

Amtrak Cascades in Washington/Oregon is the other good example, especially where there's a partnership between two states.

This might be one of the few things that Amtrak does well. Outside of the NEC and long-distance services, the states fund the services but Amtrak operates them. This gives the states some flexibility, but keeps the national ticketing and some economies of scale on the operations side. It would...

The cameras make a lot of sense though. For years, those crossings have been unreliable, and there's been a tremendous focus on them since the incidents. The area is very complex, which certainly contributes to the issues, and if they can identify or confirm an issue quickly using CCTV, then...

That picture shows the front better that the previous ones. It does look to be slightly modified compared to the VIA renderings - the headlights curve in instead of being angled, and the entire front has a gentle curve across the bottom instead of some sharper angles. Overall, it still looks...

OC Transpo gets all their Nova buses in all white now - the entire livery, which is not an insignificant amount, is vinyl. It's a lot quicker to fix repairs when you only have to deal with one paint colour and minimal masking.

It's not green if we're making a diesel bus drive out of its way every 1/2 hour to not pick anyone up, or pick up 1-2 people who might otherwise just walk through the mall. It also delays the bus by a couple of minutes on each trip, which discourages others from using transit. I'm pro transit...

Transit volume at the bus station is very low. Many people take taxis or have someone pick them up with luggage. The routes on Seymour also serve the mall, as do a number of other routes for much better connectivity from there.

They're New Flyers.

CP only removed the tracks from Smiths Falls to Mattawa. The OVR still runs the line from Mattawa (and up to Temiscaming) over to Sudbury.