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It looks as though the configuration will be "locomotive facing Montreal". It would make sense to set up the new/updated maintenance facilities to expect the trains to be one way around, and so far it's been with the locomotive facing Montreal. However, that's also the way the first set has to...

There was a fresh head end crew, but I'm not so sure about OTS. Maybe they got time for a coffee and a shower? The crew were amazingly professional and patient throughout the night.

The sad story of VIA; the federal government's total inattention to resolving the mobility gaps left by Greyhound; the REM's preemption of the Mount Royal Tunnel for strictly local use, not caring about Quebec City and barely even Laval; and the Northlander's cut by Dalton McGuinty followed by...

https://www.transportaction.ca/topics/intercity-rail-and-bus/outsourcing-via-rail-operations-creates-risks-for-hfr-bidders/ What, exactly, was it that the JPO "de-risked"? The project risks seems a lot worse now than in 2019.

The Lac Megantic tragedy and proposed rail bypass is not directly related to VIA - unless we're suddenly getting the Altantic back - but I recommend the recent article about the issue in the Globe and Mail. The difficulty in completing the bypass would seem to be for reasons that have no bearing...

Even more obscene if we add the opportunity costs, like retiring the MR-90 train fleet early and squandering the only recently opened Mascouche project, let alone what a new tunnel to Parc for HFR and Saint-Jérôme trains would cost.

This is a fair question, but there would still be a project team at VIA Rail that would draft the 100+ pages of detail that go into an RFP and/or negotiations with shortlisted bidders. There's nothing the infrastructure provider could do, if they deliver a train path availability based spec...

Transport Action's position, based on member and supporter polling, is that DBFM infrastructure is reasonable but that passenger rail operations belong in the public sector. There's slightly less aversion to private sector operation of a completely new Calgary-Edmonton project than to...

Pretty much what my line is... but the government seem to think that everything has to be perfect first time, while talking about leveraging private sector expertise. That's not how the private sector does things. They ship the first version of a product as quickly as possible and then iterate...

This article was written before Paul released the redacted JPO report, but nothing in that report changes our analysis that a DBFOM is deeply problematic. After all, they redacted the whole DBFM vs DBFOM analysis that could have made their case, and the whole section on the future of VIA...

You make some good arguments, but is this incapacity/incompetence common for governments in general, or just common for the US/UK/Canadian governments and SOEs since the Reagan/Thatcher/Mulroney era? With bidding consortia, its highly likely that the best outcome won't be available, because...

Given the wide range of reactions to the latest HFR announcement, Transport Action Canada is seeking input: https://www.transportaction.ca/topics/intercity-rail-and-bus/seeking-your-views-on-high-frequency-rail/

That's a good question. There ought to be a way to accommodate a larger pet in a crate either with the luggage towers or by using mobility aid spaces. Service dogs will certainly be welcomed.

I'm not expecting it to, because it probably wouldn't be around long if they did. The new fleet won't have separate baggage cars, but they will have extra baggage towers including at least one bike space per car. The ability to check baggage, particularly if connecting with the long distance...

Getting any sleep with small kids in the house is an achievement... but getting to be before midnight becomes even less likely once they become teenagers. Talking of getting sleep, I would also argue that city pairs like Saskatoon-Edmonton could do reasonably well with a service that doesn't...

There I disagree with you. There were at least 14 daily YYC-YEG flights in 2019. That's a lot of people putting up with all the added hassle of airports, plus a good half dozen bus frequencies including Red Arrow's 2+1 business class bus, and of course everyone driving. I think Aecom and Ellis...

I hope this doesn't seem backstabbing to our friends at VIA Rail, but passing the torch on the NML to Metrolinx now seems like the only sensible outcome. The new schedule of 84 is inevitable, but so is a terrible drop in ridership as a result of lost connections at London, not getting to...

I could argue that if Glencoe and the surrounding villages has half-decent transit into London and Chatham, a train stop would be unnecessary. However, if they had half decent transit into Glencoe and more trains called there, providing a decent set of travel options, then the on/offs there...

The ridership from Chatham and Windsor is constrained by frequency and schedule as much as anything. If we had five or six round trips per day and got the running time down below 4h again, there would be a commensurate rise in ridership. As things stood before the pandemic, ridership was good...

Unfortunately the whole of the former CASO has been ripped up, and the track north of Chatham are also idled and overgrown. However, there plenty of capacity for CN and VIA to share the Chatham Sub, unless the plan becomes to reconnect service to Detroit and Chicago, in which case the alignment...