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VIA Rail

roger1818 said:
I’m my original post I said:


The old trains didn’t have cab cars and none of the trains with 2 locomotives were used on the Quebec-Ottawa route, so wyeing was necessary mid route, after leaving Montreal. The new trains are bi-directional so wyeing is no longer necessary.
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Ah ok no problem I guess i misread it the first time.
 
Took Via 97 today, the amfleet cars are very nice and spacious even in economy, much better than Via Buddy and LRC, wonder in VIA could purchase a few to supplement their fleet until the Siemens fleet is fully delivered, as Amtrak starts to get their venture cars. Just an idea but would be great for riders
 
Jayson9999 said:
Took Via 97 today, the amfleet cars are very nice and spacious even in economy, much better than Via Buddy and LRC, wonder in VIA could purchase a few to supplement their fleet until the Siemens fleet is fully delivered, as Amtrak starts to get their venture cars. Just an idea but would be great for riders
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No point. Via is already cash strapped as it is and boneheaded by eeking out every last second of their HEPs.
 
roger1818 said:
I’m my original post I said:


The old trains didn’t have cab cars and none of the trains with 2 locomotives were used on the Quebec-Ottawa route, so wyeing was necessary mid route, after leaving Montreal. The new trains are bi-directional so wyeing is no longer necessary.
Click to expand...
Even when they did operate push-pull consists on QMO, they had to wye the train, as VIA‘s reservation system does not support a change in direction midway. This operational requirement will only change with the arrival a new reservation system (which is on its way), not with that of a new fleet…

Jayson9999 said:
Took Via 97 today, the amfleet cars are very nice and spacious even in economy, much better than Via Buddy and LRC, wonder in VIA could purchase a few to supplement their fleet until the Siemens fleet is fully delivered, as Amtrak starts to get their venture cars. Just an idea but would be great for riders
Click to expand...
VIA‘s fleet is inherently incompatible with Amtrak equipment, which is why VIA could only rent entire trainsets from Amtrak to use them exclusively on captive cycles like 82-83, 650-651 or 85-88. However, only 85-88 is at TMC at the same time as the Maple Leaf, which makes this the only cyle which could be swapped out with a fresh Amtrak trainset every day without renting a spare trainset. With none of VIA‘s existing facilities having more than the most basic experiences with maintaining Amtrak equipment, the utility of renting Amtrak equipment would be very limited…
 
Jayson9999 said:
Took Via 97 today, the amfleet cars are very nice and spacious even in economy, much better than Via Buddy and LRC, wonder in VIA could purchase a few to supplement their fleet until the Siemens fleet is fully delivered, as Amtrak starts to get their venture cars. Just an idea but would be great for riders
Click to expand...
Amtrak won't want to sell them. The amfleets are nice casuel they were refurbished in 2017/2018 so they last until the Siemens replacements arrive.
 
Urban Sky said:
Even when they did operate push-pull consists on QMO, they had to wye the train, as VIA‘s reservation system does not support a change in direction midway. This operational requirement will only change with the arrival a new reservation system (which is on its way), not with that of a new fleet…
Click to expand...
Why does the reservation system matter? The seats still have the same numbers. Could just remove the front vs rear facing indicators from the passenger information because there isn't any way of selecting anyway. It's not great but it works as an interim fix if a new system is on the way.
 
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ManyQuestions said:
Why does the reservation system matter? The seats still have the same numbers. Could just remove the front vs rear facing indicators from the passenger information because there isn't any way of selecting anyway. It's not great but it works as an interim fix if a new system is on the way.
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Customer satisfaction. The reservation system likely tries to priortize forward facing seats over rear facing seats. If the train is traveling in the opposite direction than expected, and is only half full, everyone would be in a rear facing seat. Not a good image. In that case, VIA would be better off going back to unreserved seating and let people choose their own seat when onboard.
 
ManyQuestions said:
Why does the reservation system matter? The seats still have the same numbers. Could just remove the front vs rear facing indicators from the passenger information because there isn't any way of selecting anyway. It's not great but it works as an interim fix if a new system is on the way.
Click to expand...
VIA‘s reservation system has been inherited from Air Canada and airplane seats don‘t have any of their characteristics change halfway through a trip. Agents see the direction of travel to be able to specifically book seats in direction of travel, which is why with bidirectional trains you‘ll need to have two different layouts per car type (i.e. one with an arrow showing in one direction and one showing in the opposite direction), and that information is also written on the ticket…
 
roger1818 said:
Customer satisfaction. The reservation system likely tries to priortize forward facing seats over rear facing seats. If the train is traveling in the opposite direction than expected, and is only half full, everyone would be in a rear facing seat. Not a good image. In that case, VIA would be better off going back to unreserved seating and let people choose their own seat when onboard.
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I'd agree but don't think such prioritization is done with the current system. Last winter the train seemed to be filled from front to back in the direction of travel and there were often people changing from rear facing seats to forward ones. Personally, I don't think think facing the direction of travel will be as important on the new trains if they are equipped more comfortable seats than the hard ones used on the recent via refurbs.
 
Urban Sky said:
VIA‘s reservation system has been inherited from Air Canada and airplane seats don‘t have any of their characteristics change halfway through a trip. Agents see the direction of travel to be able to specifically book seats in direction of travel, which is why with bidirectional trains you‘ll need to have two different layouts per car type (i.e. one with an arrow showing in one direction and one showing in the opposite direction), and that information is also written on the ticket…
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Didn't know you could request seat directions if booked in person.
 
roger1818 said:
Customer satisfaction. The reservation system likely tries to priortize forward facing seats over rear facing seats. If the train is traveling in the opposite direction than expected, and is only half full, everyone would be in a rear facing seat. Not a good image. In that case, VIA would be better off going back to unreserved seating and let people choose their own seat when onboard.
Click to expand...
for whatever reason every time i book a seat its rear facing despite booking 6+months ahead of travel. Id have to call and have them change it every time. Why cant they enable seat selection (free of course) on the website? theres no technical reason why not to especially if its mentioned theyre following air canada.
 
I will be travelling from Toronto to Montreal on November 26th. I am willing to make a detour via Ottawa to have a chance to ride the new Siemens trainset. Do you think I will have better luck on #26 or #28 ?
 
hoping train 668 next june will have the new train. Im going from toronto to montreal for the f1 weekend!
 
SamStar said:
I will be travelling from Toronto to Montreal on November 26th. I am willing to make a detour via Ottawa to have a chance to ride the new Siemens trainset. Do you think I will have better luck on #26 or #28 ?
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Considering that the one revenue service deployment I‘ve seen reported so far was #33=>#26, empirical evidence gives you better odds for #26 than for #28 so far…
 
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I’ll be taking 668 and 669 this month. I’m not optimistic about my chances to ride the new train set unfortunately though I’d love to.
 
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