VIA Rail

[reaperexpress]

Amsterdam to Rotterdam is of course no exception, but just the first segment of a HSR corridor which links Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam, Antwerpen, Brussels and Paris over a distance of 524 km.

Yes, and similarly the merit in building a high speed line from Toronto-Kitchener-London hinges on having direct service to Detroit (400 km) where passengers would be able to connect to Amtrak toward Chicago (850 km) on a line that the US government has been upgrading to 110mph (177km/h) standard.

And as I said in that post, no one is proposing a dedicated high speed line all the way from KW to TO anyway, the plan is for mostly upgraded tracks (<=110mph) with the possibility of selected bypasses around some awkward alignments (for example between Guelph and Georgetown).

 

[Urban Sky]

And as I said in that post, no one is proposing a dedicated high speed line all the way from KW to TO anyway, the plan is for mostly upgraded tracks (<=110mph) [...]

I’m not sure which “plan” you are referring to (though it would admittedly be refreshingly reasonable), but this is clearly not the plan published and pursued by the provincial government in Queens Park.

The main point I was trying to make in my last posts was that maybe it is Europe’s regional and intercity rail system we should strive for (at least until passenger rail leaves its microscopic niche), rather than the HSR network which was supplanted on it when the conventional rail networks got overwhelmed by passenger demand...

 

[nfitz]

Actually, the Alexandria Subdivision is "ruler straight" for more than half its length (36 km between Hawthrone Jct. and just before Casselman, 11 km between Casselman and Moose Creek, 11 km between Alexandria and Glen Robertson and another 12 km just before Coteau):
View attachment 126965

I thought the M+O was not only straighter, but was shorter, not running as far south. Which is why VIA had planned to use it during their 1980s and 1990s studies. And why the purchased the line when CP sold it.

 

[Urban Sky]

I thought the M+O was not only straighter, but was shorter, not running as far south.

Yes, it is slightly shorter (approx. 6 km, compared to via Alexandria and Coteau) and it does look “straighter” in the sense of larger curve radii, but I just wanted to point out that the Alexandria Sub is neither as badly aligned nor the bottleneck some people here seem to believe. Case in point: both alignments presented by the Ecotrain Study followed the Casselman corridor rather than the M-O...

 

[Urban Sky]

Has VIA ever ran corridor trains with 2 business class cars ?

If I recall correctly, trains 33 and 26 (Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa and v.v.) have had a second Business Car added since this month and this might have also been the case on trains 82 and 83 (London-Toronto and v.v.) in recent years...

Here is a picture of a LRC/HEP consist with 2 LRC business cars (in green) on train 35 (#33 and #26 don't operate on Saturdays):
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/637648/

 

[cplchanb]

Here is a picture of a LRC/HEP consist with 2 LRC business cars (in green) on train 35 (#33 and #26 don't operate on Saturdays):
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/637648/

ughh....cant unsee or unthink.... that mixed consist just makes us look so rag tag vs europe/asia

 

[robmausser]

ughh....cant unsee or unthink.... that mixed consist just makes us look so rag tag vs europe/asia

I even hate how they painted the business class LRC cars in a different scheme than the economy ones.

Like, who cares? The interest should be making a nice looking consist, not on pimping out the business class.

Like anyone looking at the train will go "oooooo a buisness class car"

 

[steveintoronto]

ughh....cant unsee or unthink.... that mixed consist just makes us look so rag tag vs europe/asia

It's timely you should post that:

Eurostar is to send the first of its 186mph Class 373 trains for scrap after just 22 years in service. The 18-car trains will be scrapped by European Metal Recycling (EMR) at Kingsbury. The first train was due to move to EMR’s Midlands site as RAIL went to press.

• For more on this, read RAIL 810, published on September 28.

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/fleet/2016/09/20/eurostar-prepares-to-scrap-186mph-class-373s

Video here:

We're SO far behind, it's painful...

 

[crs1026]

It's a good thing that Canada didn't win the contract to design and build the Chunnel.

We would still be studying and debating it.

- Paul

 

[Urban Sky]

Like, who cares? The interest should be making a nice looking consist, not on pimping out the business class.

The interest should be to replace an obsolete fleet and I can assure you that this is top priority at VIA at the moment. Indeed, who cares what colour the LRC is painted in?

Nevertheless, the different colours help staff and the more regular passengers throughout the boarding proces: because two Business cars mean that car 3, 4, 5 and 6 are the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th car after the locomotive(s) and (if applicable) business car, while with only one business car, #2 is skipped by the car numbers...

It's a good thing that Canada didn't win the contract to design and build the Chunnel.

We would still be studying and debating it.

- Paul

Instead, they own the High Speed Rail link from the Eurotunnel to London...

 

[steveintoronto]

It's a good thing that Canada didn't win the contract to design and build the Chunnel.

We would still be studying and debating it.

- Paul

I found it heart-breaking and perplexing to read of their scrapping, but they got incredible value out of them. These were the earliest bi-modal models that ran on third rail (like North Am subways) as well as overhead 25kVAC catenary, and the cost to refurbish them inside was considered not worthwhile when newer, more efficient stock was being introduced.

The move is away from loco hauled to distributed traction EMU. Good discussion here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/5bdfks/class_373_eurostar_heading_for_scrap/

Not that I wish to diss the need for VIA fleet replacement...and done yesterday...but I suspect the wait might pay off yet, although it's a gamble this nation shouldn't have to make. Obviously a good part of the fleet must still be diesel hauled.

Instead, they own the High Speed Rail link from the Eurotunnel to London...

Eurostar are distinct from Eurotunnel, but both are private.

Euorstar's UK Gov't ownership was sold, as per Urban's link:

Friday 5 November 2010 14.07 GMT

The Channel tunnel rail link has become the latest piece of British infrastructure to be snapped up by acquisitive Canadian pension funds.

Two of Canada's largest pension funds, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), have paid £2.1bn to operate Britain's only high-speed railway line for the next 30 years. It is the first privatisation deal done by the coalition government as it sets about slashing Britain's record debt.

Other bidders are thought to have included Eurotunnel and two of its shareholders, Infracapital and Goldman Sachs, as well as Morgan Stanley's infrastructure fund, 3i's infrastructure fund and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The deal comes in a week that saw the Canadian government block the hostile takeover bid for Potash Corporation by the Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton, and as the Canadian dollar, which has recently been boosted by strong commodity prices, reversed losses this week. It briefly regained parity with the US dollar today and rose against the pound after news of a fall in unemployment. [...]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/nov/05/channel-tunnel-rail-link-sold

Canada's turn for the Chinese to step in is coming down the track, and at a station near you shortly...(It could have been Cdn Pension Funds, but if they shmooze, they lose)

 

[aquateam]

A fair point. I'm just back from Alberta and it's interesting how many issues are being discussed and acted on out there much as they are in the east. Some old stereotypes need to be revisited. As an example, Edmonton is awash in green-painted bike lanes on the roads. Yes, people plan to use them in winter. And they are building LRT energetically. Passenger rail has a future out there, if the right things are done about first mile - last mile issues.... the road is still a necessary ingredient at route ends.

- Paul

TBH I'm amazed that people in Edmonton even leave their homes in the winter instead of hibernating for 5 months with the weather they have.

It's a good thing that Canada didn't win the contract to design and build the Chunnel.

We would still be studying and debating it.

- Paul

Maybe the southern Ontario HSR could be rerouted to go through Brant county so then it would go directly from London to Paris (Ontario)

 

[robmausser]

I was thinking about the issues with Viarail and the Montreal tunnel, and the REM plan not allowing them to use the tunnel.

Why not modify the REM plan to use mainline rail EMU's? That way you could run Viarail, Mascouche trains and the REM through the tunnel.

The Bombardier based Talent 2 would do the job, as well as go over well with Montrealers as its from their beloved company.

Mainline ATC could be installed to still allow for automatic train operation.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

On the subject of VIA's fleet, here is a Radio-Canada article discussing it from today. For those who don't speak/read French, I've translated some key items from the article:

VIA Rail remplacera 20 % de son parc de voitures d'ici 2024

• Twenty per cent of VIA Rail's fleet will be decommissioned within seven years. This is revealed in a document signed by federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau in response to a question from NDP MP Robert Aubin.
  
• VIA Rail has 495 cars and locomotives to service its Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Of these, 111 will need to be replaced gradually from 2018 until 2024.
  
• The article continues to discuss the High Frequency Rail project, but doesn't reveal any new information on a new corridor or fleet

En bref: VIA needs a new Corridor fleet, yesterday.

 

[Allandale25]

^ any speculation on which type of coaches will be decommissioned? The Budd fleet?