SashaLemon
Active Member
If only we could be like the Swiss...
Or Russia for that matter. But for several reasons Switzerland is probably a better a country to want to emulate...
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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
If only we could be like the Swiss...
Or Russia for that matter. But for several reasons Switzerland is probably a better a country to want to emulate...
HillcrestUrbanist
New Member
Maple Leaf on the Weston Sub. Not sure what the reason for the diversion is?
smallspy
Senior Member
Work has shut down the Oakville Sub to start the process of moving the plant at Burloak. There will be another 3 or 4 weekend diversions over the rest of the year.
This is the advance works for the grade separation that will be built there.
Dan
roger1818
Senior Member
Not sure if this is the right thread, but at almost exactly the 30 min mark in this video (and continuing at about 32:30 after the technical problem) Peter Anastor, Director of the Office of Rail, Michigan Department of Transportation, talks about extending one of the Wolverine trains through the CP tunnel to the VIA station in Windsor and working with VIA to connect to Toronto. They were very uncertain what route they would use to get from the tunnel to the station.
Later on in the questions and answers, (around 56 min after saying nothing about HFR other than being interested in “working with VIA”) he mentioned that they have had discussions with Ford about using Michigan Central Depot as a station again.
Later on in the questions and answers, (around 56 min after saying nothing about HFR other than being interested in “working with VIA”) he mentioned that they have had discussions with Ford about using Michigan Central Depot as a station again.
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Bordercollie
Senior Member
How does it get to Niagara falls on the Weston Sub?
littlewill1166
Active Member
KevinT
Active Member
It would be neat to be a passenger through Campbellville Junction, although I'm sure the delay with that detour is considerable. I snowboard and mountain bike at Kelso/Glen Eden, so I'd love to see it by train.
Allandale25
Senior Member
ShonTron
Moderator
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Almost twenty years ago, there was a special weekend steam excursion, with a full GO train behind the locomotive (a regular GO diesel locomotive provided head-end power). It ran on the Milton Sub, wyeing at CP Guelph Junction, using the Hamilton Sub wye. So I’ve done it.
There used to be a passenger station there, with meets between local trains to Guelph and CP mainline trains to Detroit.
cplchanb
Senior Member
no regrets on this. in fact im surprised it took them this long to realise they needed to be recertified. these cars are dinosaurs. ancient relics from a bygone era. they shouldve been phased out long ago but unfortunately via and their shoestring budgets couldnt let go of them for better or for worse. at least now there is traction via their RFP to finally replace them with modern equipment.
KevinT
Active Member
Fixed that for you.
cplchanb
Senior Member
lets not play with semantics. via had plenty of chances to push for it earlier as well instead of trying to scrape every last minute of the walking deads. its only now that they are more of a hindrance to maintain that they start to consider something new isnt a good strategy.
crs1026
Superstar
This is an utterly uninformed and fact-absent description of what VIA has done over the last decade to sustain the long distance passenger service in this country, and the context and environment in which those decisions are made.
I would suggest you browse VIA's Annual Reports and Corporate Plans for the past decade. They are all on line.
VIA has spent the last decade beating back a series of policy recommendations to trim or eliminate long distance trains altogether. That's hardly an environment where one would be pitching new equipment acquisition. For the most part, those concerns appear to have been addressed and the continued subsidy is (I hope) less at risk than it was a decade ago. Along the way, VIA had to resolve issues around timekeeping and scheduling that impacted the reputation of the service. Again, that's not a good moment to go asking for money for new equipment.
VIA was successful for a time in getting money to overhaul various classes of long distance cars. The thing that made those proposals compelling was a need for accessibility. Those programs were cut back in the end.
VIA also spent the last decade documenting (successfully) the need to replace the Corridor fleet, and (less successfully) trying to get government to consider the HFR proposal. There's good judgement in putting those programs at the top of the list. Through all of that, VIA has been clear that the LD fleet is reaching end of life.
And that's just what was put in print. I'm confident that VIA was not shy in alerting Ottawa behind closed doors about the aging of its fleet. It's pretty obvious why those discussions would not happen in public. In the end, they can only make requests.
- Paul
smallspy
Senior Member
And that doesn't even cover the 1980s, when VIA was || close to getting all new equipment to replace the Budd cars with brand new Superliners. Alas. that funding was pulled at the last minute.
But that must have been VIA's fault too, right?
Dan
Northern Light
Superstar
Let me say, I concur w/the positions taken by @smallspy and @crs1026 above.
But I do want to add....
Bureaucrats can be their own worst enemy when they just put their head down and take whatever the pols are, or are not giving.
I do appreciate that not everyone is in a position to speak truth to power publicly, and that has its own career risks.
But in the vein of the latter, I'm one who really appreciates an Andy Byford type, who understands the need to advocate for what he believes an organization needs, privately and publicly.
He's careful enough not to be seen overtly embarrassing a pol in public, but he will walk up to that line rather than meekly disappear when he feels a decision is harmful to the organization he's leading.
That attitude has put a finite term on most of his professional assignments, because it can be frustrating to pols who prefer 'yes men/women' but its worth saying, every time Andy has to move on, there are
no shortage of suitors to take him on in a comparably high profile, high paying gig.
I think too many in the Civil Service, in the name of being non-partisan and/or out of fear for their comfy sinecure will not push (back) when shoved. They often maintain a low profile which also makes it easier to get rid of them and leaves
them less in demand should they depart their job.
****
I say the above by way of saying VIA like any other public service needs to operate a service people want to use, and will use and that has a positive brand image with the public.
When one accepts unending cuts, or failures to make necessary investments, invariably the product suffers, the image of the product suffers, its constituents dwindle and it becomes ever easier to let rot.
While its pols who bear the ultimate responsibility for under-investing........... a series of VIA heads who didn't do a good enough job advocating for what the organization needed cannot be let off the hook entirely.
****
One civil servant with whom I recently spoke noted that their job is less about professional competency (though this person was a field expert at what they do) than about the politic'ing and schmoozing with pols, other agencies/depts/ Ministries.
That person noted that "its my job to give my staff the tools they need to succeed and to make the obstacles to implementing their ideas go away. My oversight of their work, while a real part of my job is the least consequential."
But I do want to add....
Bureaucrats can be their own worst enemy when they just put their head down and take whatever the pols are, or are not giving.
I do appreciate that not everyone is in a position to speak truth to power publicly, and that has its own career risks.
But in the vein of the latter, I'm one who really appreciates an Andy Byford type, who understands the need to advocate for what he believes an organization needs, privately and publicly.
He's careful enough not to be seen overtly embarrassing a pol in public, but he will walk up to that line rather than meekly disappear when he feels a decision is harmful to the organization he's leading.
That attitude has put a finite term on most of his professional assignments, because it can be frustrating to pols who prefer 'yes men/women' but its worth saying, every time Andy has to move on, there are
no shortage of suitors to take him on in a comparably high profile, high paying gig.
I think too many in the Civil Service, in the name of being non-partisan and/or out of fear for their comfy sinecure will not push (back) when shoved. They often maintain a low profile which also makes it easier to get rid of them and leaves
them less in demand should they depart their job.
****
I say the above by way of saying VIA like any other public service needs to operate a service people want to use, and will use and that has a positive brand image with the public.
When one accepts unending cuts, or failures to make necessary investments, invariably the product suffers, the image of the product suffers, its constituents dwindle and it becomes ever easier to let rot.
While its pols who bear the ultimate responsibility for under-investing........... a series of VIA heads who didn't do a good enough job advocating for what the organization needed cannot be let off the hook entirely.
****
One civil servant with whom I recently spoke noted that their job is less about professional competency (though this person was a field expert at what they do) than about the politic'ing and schmoozing with pols, other agencies/depts/ Ministries.
That person noted that "its my job to give my staff the tools they need to succeed and to make the obstacles to implementing their ideas go away. My oversight of their work, while a real part of my job is the least consequential."
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