Urban Sky
Senior Member
The most striking exception being last year when they slapped their speed limits on VIA right before the Thanksgiving weekend…
|
|
|
VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
Sauga89
Active Member
Michigan announced yesterday that it would build a new train station in Detroit to serve cross-border trains. The station is to be built adjacent to the old Michigan Central station so that trains can use the existing CPKC tunnel.
Under the plan, Amtrak trains will cross the border and passengers will have to switch to VIA in Windsor. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that there will be a customs facility on the Canadian side, and that Amtrak is waiting on approval for $50 million from the Canadian federal government for new platforms and other infrastructure.
Under the plan, Amtrak trains will cross the border and passengers will have to switch to VIA in Windsor. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that there will be a customs facility on the Canadian side, and that Amtrak is waiting on approval for $50 million from the Canadian federal government for new platforms and other infrastructure.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
It will be a different political climate once the project is completed. But I wonder if there will be improvements to the Dundas Sub? Currently passenger trains are limited to 80mph.
micheal_can
Senior Member
Could Via also extend a train to Detroit as well?
Mihairokov
Senior Member
You're right - things can always get worse.
I think it'll be a difficult call for the feds to give an American company $50M when so much of that country is up in the air right now.
dowlingm
Senior Member
"Detroit's current Amtrak station in New Center will remain in service. The proposed Michigan Central hub would, at least initially, only serve the Windsor/Toronto train service extension."
I can't believe it wouldn't be more convenient to bus Amtrak passengers through the tunnel from Windsor VIA using existing CBSA/CBP facilities than having them trundle slowly over industrial track and the CP tunnel only to have to get a bus to the Amtrak New Center to get anywhere further, and have fights with CBSA about how the facility at the station is manned and paid for. But then this whole project befuddles me with the determination Michigan and Amtrak have to see it happen. And if we see VIA trains in Windsor at 48" platforms because of it, well that's something.
Sauga89
Active Member
Actually, if you read about it further, the proposal is for one round trip of Amtrak's Chicago-Detroit Wolverine service to be extended to Windsor. Only the Wolverine train to Windsor would use the new station initially, while the other Wolverine trains would continue using the current station. But it sounds like the current Amtrak station would eventually close completely (perhaps when the new bus terminal opens or a local service to Pontiac (the current Wolverine terminus) is introduced).
The bottom line is that no international train would terminate at the new Detroit station under this plan.
Last edited:
innsertnamehere
Superstar
yes. It would make no sense for Amtrak to run a little shuttle back and forth from Michigan Central to Windsor.
The US now has the ability to post pre-clearance facilities in Canada for trains, I suspect they are aiming to do so in Windsor so that you can pre-clear US entry at Windsor just like you can clear Canadian customs, with the Amtrak train entering Michigan Central as a domestic trip.
What is frustrating is that Amtrak will not provide 1-seat service to Toronto, forcing a transfer in Windsor.
The US now has the ability to post pre-clearance facilities in Canada for trains, I suspect they are aiming to do so in Windsor so that you can pre-clear US entry at Windsor just like you can clear Canadian customs, with the Amtrak train entering Michigan Central as a domestic trip.
What is frustrating is that Amtrak will not provide 1-seat service to Toronto, forcing a transfer in Windsor.
Sauga89
Active Member
That part seems a little fuzzy to me. You have to de-board for customs anyways on the existing cross-border trains, and Amtrak crews are swapped for VIA crews. I'm not sure if there is much of a difference between a through service and a well-timed VIA connection, other than the rolling stock. I wonder if Michigan and Amtrak might be counting the crew swap as a "transfer" to VIA even if the train is the same.
dowlingm
Senior Member
This - as long as you have to have a 2 seat ride it makes little sense to make it the same seat.
roger1818
Senior Member
Separate trains will also help speed things up. With one train, they have to wait until everyone has cleared customs and immigration before continuing on, but if they are transferring to a different train, they can schedule the departure of the second train for enough time for most people to clear (similar to transferring at an airport). If someone is getting grilled, the second train can leave on schedule, and that person can catch the next train. Wort case and the person doesn't clear immigration, they can take a train back to where they came from (harder, though not impossible, to do if the train is continuing on in the same direction).
Admiral Beez
Superstar
This use of shorter routes on existing longer route tracks to compress delays, and higher frequency seems to be a win for Amtrak.
micheal_can
Senior Member
Via does that on the Corridor. There is no thru train from QC to Sarnia or Windsor.
If Via ever expands service elsewhere, they could do the same there as well. Much easier to isolate delays in one area when it is segmented than allow it to potentially accrue causing further delays.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
I was more thinking something like London to Toronto without starting in Sarnia or Windsor. Or a new Calgary Vancouver run.
dowlingm
Senior Member
The difference between how Amtrak works and how VIA works is the State-supported routes. All we have is “NEC” and “long distance” and that optimizing layer in between is absent. For example, Quebec could partner with VIA to run a Borealis-like train from Quebec City to Mont-Joli or Metane which would have a reliable and convenient timetable compared to the Ocean. But there is a seeming belief in many provinces that if you just sit on your hands long enough the Feds will do it, and pay.