Kitchener to Toronto train service & the tech sector

[nfitz]

I'm fine with the number of trains that service KW from Union now, just change the hours.

Personally I'd prefer they restore the 5 trains a day that ran before the Conservatives cut the service. I rarely ever had to take the bus until then (which was annoying, as I was connecting to a train at Union to further east).

Here's the October 1986 schedule. Note the 93 minute trip departing Union at 7:25 AM, returning from Kitchener at 6:15 pm in 95 minutes. The 4:30 pm train from Union did the trip in only 86 minutes. Today there are only 2 trips a day, and the best run time after all the Kitchener line upgrades is 95 minutes.

 

[crs1026]

That schedule sure brings back memories......of full trains. Thirty years later....yeesh.

That era was noteworthy for the number of en-route meets between trains..... after all the money spent on CTC, those passing points have all been torn out.

The timings weren't super fast, but they tapped all the right times of day for the market.

I wince when I see how Stratford is bolded as a major stop while Kitchener Waterloo is in small type. In 1986, VIA was still stuck in some old school railroading paradigms. Stratford was a smaller stop, but a rail division point .... whereas Kitchener was a bigger market but not operationally significant.

- Paul

 

[reaperexpress]

For comparison, here is the current combined intercity schedule:

Travel times are highlighted in red when it's faster to wait for a later trip (or take another trip at the same time).

I think VIA's main impediment is its fare system. The variable fares make it a hassle on short regional trips. If they want to expand in short-haul markets such as Niagara, Stratford and Halifax, they should introduce a new VIA Regional brand that uses fixed prices on those services. That way people wouldn't need to plan such short trips weeks in advance to get an affordable VIA ticket and they might actually be able to fill the trains.