VIA Rail: New Funding

[nfitz]

Perhaps passenger rail services should be under the jurisdiction of provincial governments which would be better able to respond to regional needs. Right now, there is a lot of ill will aimed toward VIA from Western politicians who justifiably believe that VIA basically serves "Eastern" (read: Central Canadian) interests.

Though as many of the passengers are travelling between provinces, that wouldn't be much of a benefit. Also, doesn't Section 92 of the Constitution Act define inter-provincial railways as a federal responsibility? I can't imagine that opening up Pandora's constitution for such issues is ever going to happen.

There's nothing stopping a province doing it's own rail service, as Quebec does around Montreal, and as Ontario already does in the Golden Horseshoe, and through funding of Via Rail for other Ontario services. Given Alberta's failure to estalish a Calgary-Edmonton rail service yet, despite being flush with cash, I would think that transferring responsibility to the provinces would only serve to diminish what little rail is left.

VIA primarily serves central Canadian interest, because that is the only location in the country, possibly outside the Edmonton-Calgary corridor, where there are suitable population densities and close proximety to other cities to make such transportation feasible. Whoever is complaining about VIA servicing Eastern Canada interests, clearly hasn't travelled to Atlantic Canada since 1990 when the Tories eliminated much of the Atlantic train service.

Am I the only one tired of hearing western whining about Ontario? Given how hard the federal government tries to screw Ontario on a regular basis, in favour of Quebec and the western provinces, I can never fathom why there seems to be perpetural whining from the west. This latest Tory gerrymandering shoud have people rioting in the streets, trying to burn down Parliament - and we've hardly had a good letter to the editor.

Yup, they bought the Alexandria Sub some years ago.

I'd forgotten that. Interesting, as they also own most of the M&O Sub west of Hudson. Kind of odd that virtually the only routes they own in Canada are two runs from Montreal to Ottawa; both on the south side of the river!

 

[Hydrogen]

Ottawa to Montreal has been improved to a good degree. Ottawa to Toronto, however, is another matter. Leaving Ottawa city limits takes about forty minutes because of speed restrictions. Smiths Falls is a bottleneck featuring a long crawl through a train yard with track restrictions for VIA. For some reason, the trip back to Toronto is more often on time than the trip from Toronto to Ottawa.

 

[waterloowarrior]

Via examines options to improve Kitchener-Toronto commute TheRecord.com - Local - Via examines options to improve Kitchener-Toronto commute

Brian Caldwell
RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO REGION

Via Rail is planning "significant improvements" to the line that runs through Kitchener and Guelph, giving commuters hope of a more efficient alternative to clogged highways.

Malcolm Andrews, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation, cautioned that negotiations are continuing and only preliminary engineering work is being done on the line between Toronto and London.

But he said an announcement on firm plans is expected by the end of the year, with work to begin in 2009. "At this point, a number of options are being looked at," Andrews said.

Included are upgrades to tracks, sidings, signal systems and other infrastructure to reduce trip times and accommodate more trains.

Via currently runs three trains a day each way between Toronto and Kitchener, including a morning commuter service.

Paul Langan, a regional spokesperson for advocacy group Transport 2000, called it "great news" that improvements are likely to go ahead.

"Our line is finally going to join the modern age with faster trains."

He is still frustrated, however, by the slow pace of progress and that rail service isn't given a much higher priority in overall transportation plans.

Money for work on the Toronto-London line will come from $692 million committed by the federal government last fall for the busy Quebec City-Windsor corridor.

Most of the funding, $516 million allocated over five years, is earmarked to refurbish trains, infrastructure and stations.

Andrews said plans for the Toronto-London line are complicated by negotiations with the owner of the tracks, Goderich-Exeter Railway.

"It's not headline news yet," he said. "We're not quite there."

bcaldwell@therecord.com



Ottawa to Montreal is also getting a bunch of improvements

 

[urbanfan89]

Via Rail is looking better and better thanks to Greyhound's continually shifting schedules...and the random decapitator on there.

 

[ShonTron]

Great news since Greyhound has all but abandoned downtown Kitchener. They should easily shave 20-30 minutes off the Kitchener-Toronto run, hopefully even more that would make it competitive. An additional one or two round trips would be nice to see as well - particularly a early morning trip out of Toronto, and a mid-afternoon trip from Kitchener.

The most fustrating part of the trip is the crawl through Guelph.

 

[nfitz]

Great news since Greyhound has all but abandoned downtown Kitchener.

What do you mean? I just looked at their schedule and there are 17 departures on a weekday from Toronto to downtown Kitchener. Schedule looks similiar to how it has done since the days Via had 5 trains a day.

 

[urbanfan89]

^^ For some reason they decided not to sell tickets at the downtown terminal. Packages will no longer be shipped there, and passengers will have to ride to a new terminal near the 401 onramp to buy tickets.

Why they did this, I don't know.

 

[nfitz]

You sure? Is there a reference? Still it hasn't impacted service looking at the schedule. And if they can replace the current terminals all across Cambridge with one near the 401 ramp, then wouldn't that speed up service into Kitchener. If it isn't the detour through Guelph, then it is the long, winding, tour of Cambridge ... I've sat through 3 different Cambridge stops as far apart as you can imagine in the city, and seen only 1 passenger get on!

 

[Kitsune]

Great, now if only Via could start doing some work on the Toronto to Vancouver schedule, the fact it takes 7 hours to get to the outskirts of Sudbury is mind boggling. And also, maybe a seperate route through the praries? The amount of times that trains get delayed 4-5 hours do to Grain trains is absurd.

 

[ShonTron]

Great, now if only Via could start doing some work on the Toronto to Vancouver schedule, the fact it takes 7 hours to get to the outskirts of Sudbury is mind boggling.

Via did have a faster trip from Toronto to Sudbury until 1995, when CN abandoned the Newmarket sub between Barrie and Langford (near Washago). This forced VIA to take a longer, meandering route through Beaverton, and missing the stops it used to make in Newmarket, Barrie (Allandale) and Orillia. This was so CN didn't have to make repairs or maintain the Orillia swing bridge.

VIA has improve the actual (versus scheduled) time due to the CN/CP directional running from south of Parry Sound to just south of Sudbury, with a few less delays and a more direct route northbound. The Canadian is really a tourist run, but I would love to see it somewhat faster, restored to the CP line, which is much more scenic through Ontario, and run at least 6 days a week like the Montreal-Halifax train. I've done the entire Canadian (not in one trip, though) and it is an amazing trip - it is very pretty, you meet people, some who will be interesting, guaranteed, and it's pleasurable.

The train to Halifax is neat too, but I hear the quality of the experience declined after the old, classic and comfortable stainless steel Budd equipment (still used on the Canadian) with the er, functional, Renaissance fleet. I've done most of the VIA routes, with the exception of the Gaspe, Hudson Bay, Jasper-Prince Rupert, and Northern Quebec routes, and Ottawa-Montreal. I have even done the northern Ontario RDC route, though admittedly, not all of it (I'm not that geeky).

 

[Hipster Duck]

I took a Rennaisance car once from Ottawa to Montreal; it was cramped but the short duration of the trip and the smooth ride made up for it. I don't think I'd want to sit in that weird claustrophobic position (the seats are raised above the aisle but below the low-hanging baggage bins) for more than four hours so I guess that I don't miss the fact that they never are used for any Toronto Corridor runs.

The LRC equipment is starting to show its age but it's still reasonably comfortable. Now, as for the HEP cars, they shake like a Mofo at speeds above 140 km/h. I just came back from Montreal on one of those and when it sailed over a switch at "high" speed it felt like a vintage roller coaster ride.

 

[Kitsune]

Via did have a faster trip from Toronto to Sudbury until 1995, when CN abandoned the Newmarket sub between Barrie and Langford (near Washago). This forced VIA to take a longer, meandering route through Beaverton, and missing the stops it used to make in Newmarket, Barrie (Allandale) and Orillia. This was so CN didn't have to make repairs or maintain the Orillia swing bridge.

VIA has improve the actual (versus scheduled) time due to the CN/CP directional running from south of Parry Sound to just south of Sudbury, with a few less delays and a more direct route northbound. The Canadian is really a tourist run, but I would love to see it somewhat faster, restored to the CP line, which is much more scenic through Ontario, and run at least 6 days a week like the Montreal-Halifax train. I've done the entire Canadian (not in one trip, though) and it is an amazing trip - it is very pretty, you meet people, some who will be interesting, guaranteed, and it's pleasurable.

The train to Halifax is neat too, but I hear the quality of the experience declined after the old, classic and comfortable stainless steel Budd equipment (still used on the Canadian) with the er, functional, Renaissance fleet. I've done most of the VIA routes, with the exception of the Gaspe, Hudson Bay, Jasper-Prince Rupert, and Northern Quebec routes, and Ottawa-Montreal. I have even done the northern Ontario RDC route, though admittedly, not all of it (I'm not that geeky).

Indeed it would be nicer - right now Sudbury's VIA station is at the end of a dirt road so far deep in no mans land there isnt even bus service, while the City's main station downtown (and sitting on the CP line) is crumbling away.

 

[Northern Light]

We can all agree that VIA has been neglected, if not savaged, since the mid-80's at least.

There is serious need for more service on existing routes, better and faster services, and restored services on tracks now in dis-use, or in some cases even removed.

But posting here only does so much to push things in the right direction.

Time to get out your keyboards and share your thoughts with the people that make the decisions!

Hey, you may only have a 1/10 shot of making a difference, but that's at least 100 times better than if you do nothing!

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Tower C - 330 Sparks St.
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0N5

Telephone:

613-991-0700
Fax:

613-995-0327
E-mail:

mintc@tc.gc.ca

Or fill out the form on this page

http://www.tc.gc.ca/minister/contact.htm

 

[ShonTron]

Indeed it would be nicer - right now Sudbury's VIA station is at the end of a dirt road so far deep in no mans land there isnt even bus service, while the City's main station downtown (and sitting on the CP line) is crumbling away.

That's why, if I don't get a ride from my brother, I ride the extra little bit to Capreol, where there is bus service!

That said, yes, "Sudbury Junction" is a dive (because the old CP station is still used for the remote RDC service), hardly better than an Amshack. A shame that the Canadian doesn't use the CP route, and put the RDC on the CN route instead between Capreol (or even downtown Sudbury) to Sioux Lookout and Winnipeg.

 

[dowlingm]

A train from Toronto to Kitchener in the morning would spare me from Greyhound. It wouldn't have to have VIA1 as that line is currently Economy only but that would be a bonus

there seems to be some momentum around commuter rail on the Ottawa Central from Pembroke to Ottawa
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Ontario/2008/07/23/012-pembroke-train.shtml
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1124137

I wonder if the OCRR becomes improved for passenger use then VIA could be encouraged to look at connecting Montreal-Ottawa-Petawawa-North Bay-Sudbury to open cross-connections between Eastern Ontario/Quebec, Northern Ontario and the Canadian. I'm not too familiar with the routes though so this might be a very long shot.

In "exchange" I think Ottawa should be pushing Queen's Park to have Northland take over Sudbury-White River (and as suggested above Sudbury-Sioux Lookout) as part of an expanded, integrated northern Ontario service but with the Sudbury and North Bay connections optimised for connection to VIA - if the Canadian's on-time-performance issues could be addressed.

What VIA is doing on the Montreal-Ottawa is interesting and encouraging from the perspective of their long term survival - ramping up service on a reasonably short run where it's difficult for the airlines to compete. They are now up to 7 daily each way and are investing more money in further improvements. Politically, having the most easy to upgrade (because they own it) line between the national capital and the largest city in Quebec is pretty much the perfect project to lobby vote hungry governments and their bureaucratic masters - er - servants with.

This is the kind of work I'd like to see in southern Ontario - improving service between key points like London and Kingston and ramping them up so that speed improves a little but frequency improves more so that the headway+journey time equation becomes more and more attractive. Obviously I'd like to see London-Windsor and Kingston-Montreal/Ottawa improve (for instance, an eastbound train from Kingston to match the westbound Toronto commuter - the first EB train is 0933!) but in terms of visibility that would be an important incremental step in the right direction.

Here's an odd one though - try booking a connecting ticket from Brampton to Kingston via Union. That works. Now try booking a ticket from Smiths Falls to Montreal via Ottawa (for instance, one-way dep 1100 connect 1147/1245 arrive 1450). That doesn't. Oops. Guildwood to Guelph/Brampton seems to freak it out too. It seems that Reservia's restrictions on travel between outer stations and the main urban station gets in the way of transfers...

VIA's printed timetable bites too as it separates trains over multiple tables rather than show Quebec-Toronto as an integrated service so you can see multiple services between intermediate points on a single page irrespective of whether they are routed via Ottawa or not. Even Irish Rail can manage that.