SamStar
New Member
I wonder if this is related to the potential use of the RDC in the South-West corridor.
Any service increase is a good news.
Any service increase is a good news.
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VIA Rail
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ShonTron
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That's my best guess. Since there will concern London and Sarnia stations, perhaps the RDC will shuttle between the two cities. London's station is still relatively new, so it isn't likely station improvements.
ShonTron
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Sadly, that's all it is. $2.55M for improvements at London and Sarnia stations. Renovations to washrooms, interiors and exteriors.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
I'd still be shocked if this wasn't a prelude to RDC service. Yes the London station is new, but the other platforms besides those right beside the station building aren't in great shape. The inclusion of Sarnia in the announcement too hopefully is a good indicator of this.
Release: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?mthd=tp&crtr.page=1&nid=1123429&crtr.tp1D=1
dowlingm
Senior Member
A high platform (even part of one) at London would be nice, given most VIA services I've ever been on used the near side track where freight/oversize shouldn't be a concern.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
A high platform would really speed up boarding/unloading. Sunday night trains to London from Toronto have a large number of students, and if a train is coming back Sunday night after a holiday, they can be as long as 12 cars. If I was VIA I'd be pushing for high platform boarding wherever I could, especially if HFR is built.
Urban Sky
Senior Member
dowlingm
Senior Member
That is a parliamentary sec level announcement I guess
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Here is another VIA article, but with a quote from VIA that confirms VIA is looking at Peterborough routing for HFR, and it also details some other SW Ontario service enhancements. The article itself mainly rips on VIA for over-promising things, but I've attached the quote from VIA re: HFR.
Article: http://www.insideottawavalley.com/n...s-perth-on-rail-link-don-t-get-your-hopes-up/
VIA Rail response:
In an email response to a query from The Perth Courier, Mariam Diaby, a senior media relations advisor for VIA Rail Canada, received late on Monday, Sept. 12, she wrote that “VIA Rail is currently conducting due diligence on its proposal to build a dedicated passenger railway track in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor. One of the options under consideration by VIA Rail include the Shining Waters Railway Plan, which aims to provide passenger service from Toronto to Havelock, and its extension all the way to Ottawa, using existing or discontinued railroad rights of way.” She added that contractors are in the midst of conducting “basic inspections on former railway beds and infrastructure that is under consideration for the project. Technical assessments will provide a better understanding of the potential route options.”
She also stressed that this proposal “is a VIA Rail management initiative and does not reflect the government of Canada’s policies.”
As for the train service in southwestern Ontario, “last summer we announced our plans to increase frequencies between Toronto and London and dwell trains overnight in Stratford, therefore having trains that would start in Stratford or even in St. Marys, going into Toronto. We also would like to have trains going from Toronto southwest towards Kitchener-Waterloo in the morning.” She went on to write that VIA has been in discussions with Canadian National (CN) Rail. “We have co-funded a capacity study to see what type of work would have to be done in order to facilitate this schedule.”
Article: http://www.insideottawavalley.com/n...s-perth-on-rail-link-don-t-get-your-hopes-up/
VIA Rail response:
In an email response to a query from The Perth Courier, Mariam Diaby, a senior media relations advisor for VIA Rail Canada, received late on Monday, Sept. 12, she wrote that “VIA Rail is currently conducting due diligence on its proposal to build a dedicated passenger railway track in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor. One of the options under consideration by VIA Rail include the Shining Waters Railway Plan, which aims to provide passenger service from Toronto to Havelock, and its extension all the way to Ottawa, using existing or discontinued railroad rights of way.” She added that contractors are in the midst of conducting “basic inspections on former railway beds and infrastructure that is under consideration for the project. Technical assessments will provide a better understanding of the potential route options.”
She also stressed that this proposal “is a VIA Rail management initiative and does not reflect the government of Canada’s policies.”
As for the train service in southwestern Ontario, “last summer we announced our plans to increase frequencies between Toronto and London and dwell trains overnight in Stratford, therefore having trains that would start in Stratford or even in St. Marys, going into Toronto. We also would like to have trains going from Toronto southwest towards Kitchener-Waterloo in the morning.” She went on to write that VIA has been in discussions with Canadian National (CN) Rail. “We have co-funded a capacity study to see what type of work would have to be done in order to facilitate this schedule.”
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Transport Minister Marc Garneau appears lukewarm on high speed train through Southwestern Ontario
http://www.lfpress.com/2016/09/14/t...high-speed-train-through-southwestern-ontario
Excerpt:
Speaking to the London Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, the former astronaut turned cabinet minister said improvements to passenger rail service could come with a Via Rail plan to create dedicated passenger rail track corridor in southern Ontario.
Under the plan, Via would take over lines now used for freight traffic.
In an interview, Garneau said that would allow for more frequent service, no interference from freight traffic and trains that move much faster than conventional trains but well below the 200-300 km/h speed of high speed rail.
“That's the essence of the Via proposal and that's what we are looking at seriously and if that is a workable solution that will address the issue,” said Garneau.
http://www.lfpress.com/2016/09/14/t...high-speed-train-through-southwestern-ontario
Excerpt:
Speaking to the London Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, the former astronaut turned cabinet minister said improvements to passenger rail service could come with a Via Rail plan to create dedicated passenger rail track corridor in southern Ontario.
Under the plan, Via would take over lines now used for freight traffic.
In an interview, Garneau said that would allow for more frequent service, no interference from freight traffic and trains that move much faster than conventional trains but well below the 200-300 km/h speed of high speed rail.
“That's the essence of the Via proposal and that's what we are looking at seriously and if that is a workable solution that will address the issue,” said Garneau.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
New VIA tender on MERX. Looks like we could have an RFP for a new VIA corridor fleet within a handful of months.
CFR specs review - VIA Rail Fleet Renewal Project - Specifications review
https://www.merx4.merx.com/public/solicitations/211870817/abstract
The technical specifications document, which may be adapted to reflect and refine VIA Rail’s requirements, will form the basis of an upcoming RFP (subject to final approval by the Government of Canada). We would like trainset vendors to provide us their comments on these specifications by October 21th, 2016, allowing VIA Rail to evaluate modifying the technical specifications based on relevant input received. The objective of this step is to best align our requirements to the marketplace’s ability to respond with high quality solutions.
CFR specs review - VIA Rail Fleet Renewal Project - Specifications review
https://www.merx4.merx.com/public/solicitations/211870817/abstract
The technical specifications document, which may be adapted to reflect and refine VIA Rail’s requirements, will form the basis of an upcoming RFP (subject to final approval by the Government of Canada). We would like trainset vendors to provide us their comments on these specifications by October 21th, 2016, allowing VIA Rail to evaluate modifying the technical specifications based on relevant input received. The objective of this step is to best align our requirements to the marketplace’s ability to respond with high quality solutions.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
I finally got around to reading the VIA Rail 2016-2020 Corporate Plan Summary that alexanderglista posted back on page 87 of this thread.
It's actually a good read, it's very frank about the deplorable state of intercity rail in Canada and is a clear call to action.
I found the proposed 5-year service expansion diagram to be hard to decipher so I made my own line diagrams illustrating the proposed changes:
Animated GIF to show changes:
The changes from Current to Year 1 seem like a very achievable improvement to service. Some low-hanging fruit are being seized, such as moving direct Toronto-Sarnia service from the north mainline to the south mainline - which cuts 70 minutes off the trip time. That's a bigger time savings than many multi-billion-dollar high speed rail lines!
It is somewhat disconcerting how much of the expansion between Year 1 and Year 5 is in short-haul trips to Toronto from Stratford or Niagara Falls. These routes directly compete with GO's expansion plans - a competition they will lose due to VIA's variable-price tickets that need to be purchased in advance. I think that VIA should focus on its area of specialty, which is fast and comfortable intercity service. So rather than adding a bunch of short trips to Stratford and Niagara Falls, they should add a smaller number of longer trips to London, Windsor and Sarnia.
EDIT: I just realized that I mis-labeled the Niagara service as "5" in the "Current" diagram. It should be "1".
It's actually a good read, it's very frank about the deplorable state of intercity rail in Canada and is a clear call to action.
I found the proposed 5-year service expansion diagram to be hard to decipher so I made my own line diagrams illustrating the proposed changes:
Animated GIF to show changes:
The changes from Current to Year 1 seem like a very achievable improvement to service. Some low-hanging fruit are being seized, such as moving direct Toronto-Sarnia service from the north mainline to the south mainline - which cuts 70 minutes off the trip time. That's a bigger time savings than many multi-billion-dollar high speed rail lines!
It is somewhat disconcerting how much of the expansion between Year 1 and Year 5 is in short-haul trips to Toronto from Stratford or Niagara Falls. These routes directly compete with GO's expansion plans - a competition they will lose due to VIA's variable-price tickets that need to be purchased in advance. I think that VIA should focus on its area of specialty, which is fast and comfortable intercity service. So rather than adding a bunch of short trips to Stratford and Niagara Falls, they should add a smaller number of longer trips to London, Windsor and Sarnia.
EDIT: I just realized that I mis-labeled the Niagara service as "5" in the "Current" diagram. It should be "1".
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SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Really well done diagram. I know the City of Stratford really wants more VIA trains, so hopefully this will make a difference for them.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
Thanks.
Stratford does have a lot to gain from increased train service. Currently nearly all visitors arrive by car, which has negative impacts on the town's livability. For example, if more visitors arrived by train they could use their town square as a town square rather than a parking lot.
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crs1026
Superstar
Page 24 indicates that VIA is looking at a 'cruse train' strategy that would bring an end to the current "non-interrupted ride" (my term to describe what is mostly a single train ride, with longish breaks) from Vancouver to Toronto.
It's good to see VIA characterising its Corridor fleet as "needs replacement urgently" as opposed to "can keep running with refurbishment".
I wish the report were clearer about the minimum capital expenditure needed even just to do the stated minimum to keep the corridor going, ie to replace the fleet, buy the Kitchener-Stratford-London line, and make whatever track improvements CN would require to add the number of trains proposed. It looks like VIA wants about $389M in equipment funding and $153M in infrastructure. Those numbers strike me as awfully low.
- Paul
It's good to see VIA characterising its Corridor fleet as "needs replacement urgently" as opposed to "can keep running with refurbishment".
I wish the report were clearer about the minimum capital expenditure needed even just to do the stated minimum to keep the corridor going, ie to replace the fleet, buy the Kitchener-Stratford-London line, and make whatever track improvements CN would require to add the number of trains proposed. It looks like VIA wants about $389M in equipment funding and $153M in infrastructure. Those numbers strike me as awfully low.
- Paul