VIA Rail

[crs1026]

Exterior: Not very clean. Windows are dirty and haven’t been cleaned for weeks.

This is an area where VIA really ought to do better. Look, if the washing machine is broke, hire a couple window washers. The layovers are long enough for that.

Staffed showed me how to open the doors in an emergency. Funny. Never saw happening in Europe that passengers would potentially run evacuation procedures on their own.

I do think that Transport Canada's safety protocols are a bit overthought.... but...not many people realise how breaking the window works (hint - look for the hammer) Or where the heavy tools are located. And probably the better solution - a door that is more easily opened under emergency conditions - was discarded on the grounds of expense. And yeah, in Europe, where train crews are smaller, you are on your own.

Why is the there no 3rd. or 4 th track? Sad!

Politicians bragging that they have kept taxes low. They seem to get re-elected, the taxpayer gets what they pay for.

- Paul

 

[reaperexpress]

I’m on the #67 train from Montreal to Toronto. A few observations:
- Train: Still the old train set. Staff said this train will be the last to be replaced. Is that true?

On the positive side I like the new German Siemens trains. When do we see those running as #67?

The Toronto-Montreal trains are among the most severely impacted by CN's speed restrictions on Siemens trains so it makes sense they'd try to minimize the use of Siemens sets on those trips. They also commonly use more than 5 coaches, which would require the use of two Siemens sets to replace just one LRC set. If they deploy them on other routes, those two Siemens sets could replace two LRC sets.

 

[Bordercollie]

This is an area where VIA really ought to do better. Look, if the washing machine is broke, hire a couple window washers. The layovers are long enough for that.



I do think that Transport Canada's safety protocols are a bit overthought.... but...not many people realise how breaking the window works (hint - look for the hammer) Or where the heavy tools are located. And probably the better solution - a door that is more easily opened under emergency conditions - was discarded on the grounds of expense. And yeah, in Europe, where train crews are smaller, you are on your own.



Politicians bragging that they have kept taxes low. They seem to get re-elected, the taxpayer gets what they pay for.

- Paul

Seeing how you can mount a water tank and a pump on the back of a pickup I'm sure that wouldn't be that hard.

 

[lenaitch]

This is an area where VIA really ought to do better. Look, if the washing machine is broke, hire a couple window washers. The layovers are long enough for that.

Even better, there are all sorts of commercial truck wash companies out there that would be a lot more practical than a small tank on the back of a pickup. Winter temperatures do add a complication.

 

[Bordercollie]

Even better, there are all sorts of commercial truck wash companies out there that would be a lot more practical than a small tank on the back of a pickup. Winter temperatures do add a complication.

The issue is drainage. The soapy water would freeze in these temps making it difficult unless you have a heated pad or something. Are there any practical solutions to this?

 

[lenaitch]

The issue is drainage. The soapy water would freeze in these temps making it difficult unless you have a heated pad or something. Are there any practical solutions to this?

Probably not if the stock doesn't have regular access to a purpose-bult indoor wash rack. Still gets you from A to B.

 

[crs1026]

Funny, they have fluids that clean windows on cars in the winter. They even de-ice airplanes with it.

I bet a bucket or two like one finds at gas stations and a squeegie would be sufficient.

- Paul

 

[Urban Sky]

Funny, they have fluids that clean windows on cars in the winter. They even de-ice airplanes with it.

I assume that they usually de-ice places at the same location - one where drains are built into the tarmac.

I bet a bucket or two like one finds at gas stations and a squeegie would be sufficient.

- Paul

You need a platform where you can reach the upper half of the car (from the windows upwards) and which can reach the entire train length. Such a platform only exists inside the shop and this is where the need for proper drainage would be even more acute than outside in the yard.

I believe we can safely assume that if there was an easy and obvious fix, it would have already been implemented…

 

[smallspy]

They even de-ice airplanes with it.

- Paul

You do not want to know what is involved at the facility to deal with the de-ice after it's been sprayed.

I believe we can safely assume that if there was an easy and obvious fix, it would have already been implemented…

This. Occam's Razor, guys.

Dan

 

[roger1818]

VIA’s Economy/Business Plus tickets were and are not flexible when exchanging them. They can just be refunded without penalty or exchanged for the full fare difference (positive or negative) between the fare originally paid for the original train and the fare which is available right now for the desired train. Under the old reservation system, this didn’t matter because there was only a single price point for flexible tickets, but with the new system, an Economy Plus ticket bought 3 months ahead can easily be cheaper than an Escape ticket bought the day of departure.

Personally, I always book any train I might be taking as soon as I have reason to believe that I might need to travel on these days and then cancel (for a full refund) any trains I don’t need as soon as I’m sure I won’t need them. I currenty have 18 different single-trip Montreal-Toronto tickets (worth $1500, LOL) booked in Economy Plus and will almost certainly cancel the majority of them…

Ceratinly a valid point, but as I said, most companies are willing to pay the change fees and fare differential.

Having said that, VIA would be wise to wave fees on last minute changes to an earlier train that has "ample" seats, especially if they are changing from a train that is "full," as there is a good chance that they can sell that seat on the later train. Airlines will do this, though they don't have the option to pick up a passenger mid route the way a train can.

 

[roger1818]

Maybe with HxR we can see the end of a different price for the same seat. Maybe still have a discounted rate on Tuesdays as they do now, or if they have seat sales, but having the ticket be the same price for the same type of fare (Economy, Business, etc) may make it better. We don't see GO having a different far, except for passes.

Unlikely. Dynamic pricing encourages people with flexible travel schedules to travel on trains at less popular times. GO doesn't use it becasue they don't require that you reserve your seat in advance, but instead use a first come first serve model to decide who gets on. A better option for tranist systems is to use On-Peak and Off-Peak fares to get peole shift when they travel.

VIA could try and do something like this, but that could be problimatic if they guess wrong on a train being popular (or not) due to an unforceen event. Dynamic pricing does a better job of adjusting to real world demand.

 

[Mihairokov]

Staffed showed me how to open the doors in an emergency. Funny. Never saw happening in Europe that passengers would potentially run evacuation procedures on their own.

Generally they will advise not to begin these procedures until a staff member tells them to (IIRC), so that implies that a non-employee would only need to do this if the staff are incapacitated in some way. That's how I read it anyway....

 

[smallspy]

Staffed showed me how to open the doors in an emergency. Funny. Never saw happening in Europe that passengers would potentially run evacuation procedures on their own.

There's a saying in the railroad industry (and indeed, many others) that each rule is written in blood.

They taught you about how to open the doors because in the past there was one (or more) incident(s) that involved people having difficultly leaving a train in an emergency. They teach other passengers how to open the sealed windows. This is no different than the emergency exit messages that all airlines are required to give you before you take off.

Dan

 

[Urban Sky]

Ceratinly a valid point, but as I said, most companies are willing to pay the change fees and fare differential.

If the company has a separate department which makes travel arrangements and books for the employee, then maybe, but if the employee books by himself, then he will have a strong bias for flexible tickets for three separate reasons:

• To save them the need to justify why they needed to change or cancel existing reservations (when expensing fees for exchanging or refunding tickets).
• Flexible tickets usually accumulate more points than semi-flexible ones.
• Lack of financial incentive to book cheaper tickets.

Having gone through my bookings, I can’t stress enough how much my employer has saved through the new reservation system, as this overview of the undiscounted one-way Business Plus tickets between Montreal and Toronto shows:

Old reservation system

• 2021/22: $283+tx
• 2022: $298+tx
• 2023: $313+tx

New reservation system

• $152+tx (4x)
• $184+tx (2x)
• $186+tx (3x)
• $195+tx (1x)
• $197+tx (4x)
• $200+tx (1x)

In fact, the decrease in ECO+/BUS+ tickets was so extreme that I could cancel 4 ECO+ tickets I had already booked for $222+tx before the introduction of the new system and rebook them in BUS+ for $184+tx (2x) and $197+tx (2x), thus saving (!) the company $126+tx while upgrading to Business Class! And as you can see above, I have yet to pay as much for BUS+ as the $222+tx I used to pay for ECO+…

Having said that, VIA would be wise to wave fees on last minute changes to an earlier train that has "ample" seats, especially if they are changing from a train that is "full," as there is a good chance that they can sell that seat on the later train. Airlines will do this, though they don't have the option to pick up a passenger mid route the way a train can.

Sure, but that way you just invite people to book a cheaper, later train and then just walk up for the earlier train…

Unlikely. Dynamic pricing encourages people with flexible travel schedules to travel on trains at less popular times. GO doesn't use it becasue they don't require that you reserve your seat in advance, but instead use a first come first serve model to decide who gets on. A better option for tranist systems is to use On-Peak and Off-Peak fares to get peole shift when they travel.

VIA could try and do something like this, but that could be problimatic if they guess wrong on a train being popular (or not) due to an unforceen event. Dynamic pricing does a better job of adjusting to real world demand.

As antiquated as Canadian passenger rail operations may appear, they’ve been very progressive on the pricing front, such as Canadian National introducing peak pricing in 1963 and thus way before the aviation industry:

Amazon.ca

 

[nfitz]

If the company has a separate department which makes travel arrangements and books for the employee ...

Gosh, even when companies had a system like that - sometime last century, you didn't telephone someone from the airport to change it for an earlier flight the same day! Perhaps from whatever office you were to change to a later flight.

Maybe non-corporate entities still do weird stuff like that ... but that kind of government operation simply expects you to stick to the schedule, and there's no financial gain for the company to get you on the way faster.