VIA Rail

[dowlingm]

This delay of the express train pilot makes VIA look like the gang that can't shoot straight. Now they have messed around a bunch of their customers and are trying to put the situation back to status quo ante. Reddit blames CN, groups.io thinks politicians got their way. Either way, it's bad for VIA and senior management should account for it.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It could be an LRC set, or a Venture set that has 32 axles. Those are not subject to the speed restrictions.

You can tell what type of train it is and how long the train is by looking at the seat selection chart. Ventures are identifiable by the area hatched out for the cab in the first or last coach.

Regardless of the train type, Ottawa trains are less affected by the CN speed restrictions than Montreal trains, because a smaller portion of the route is owned by CN.
View attachment 684482

That said, CN isn't the only one who creates delays for Via. In terms of real-time dispatching, Metrolinx actually seems to be much worse to Via than CN. See for example the progression of train 59 on the 15th of September:
View attachment 684484
Similarly, today Via 59 made it all the way to Eglinton station on time, but Metrolinx decided to route the train behind a GO local train, creating about a 10-minute delay to the Via train instead of just letting the Via train pass by on the express track that was available.
View attachment 684496


Here is the on-time performance of Train 59 over the past two weeks according to https://asm.transitdocs.com/
View attachment 684483

Well darn it, I was hoping the Belleville train would arrive well past 9pm so I could not rush out of my event at the Belleville Harbourview Conference Centre. Oh well, by Uber it's only about 9 mins away, so I'll just have to leave early. It's ridiculous that the last train of the day is at 8:51 pm.

 

[reaperexpress]

Well darn it, I was hoping the Belleville train would arrive well past 9pm so I could not rush out of my event at the Belleville Harbourview Conference Centre. Oh well, by Uber it's only about 9 mins away, so I'll just have to leave early. It's ridiculous that the last train of the day is at 8:51 pm.

You think that's bad, the last train of the day from Montreal to Ottawa departs at 6:50pm! It makes it a nuisance to me to use the train for day trips to Montreal from my house near Ottawa Station. And if they had gone through with the non-stop train proposal it would have been even more brutal for travel from Kingston, Brockville, Smiths Falls and Cornwall to Ottawa and Montreal, as I described in my earlier post.

 

[reaperexpress]

This delay of the express train pilot makes VIA look like the gang that can't shoot straight. Now they have messed around a bunch of their customers and are trying to put the situation back to status quo ante. Reddit blames CN, groups.io thinks politicians got their way. Either way, it's bad for VIA and senior management should account for it.

Indeed, kicking everyone from intermediate stations off the train only to still stop at intermediate stations is a massive slap in the face to their customers. The company owes its customers a frank and open explanation of what happened.

If the political pressure was the reason they cancelled it, then that would be very bad because:
- they said it was "operational reasons",
- the main issue seems to have been the loss of trains 50, 60 and 61 (morning trains) at intermediate stops, so they still could have gone ahead with making 68/69 (evening trains) non-stop.

 

[dowlingm]

Indeed, kicking everyone from intermediate stations off the train only to still stop at intermediate stations is a massive slap in the face to their customers. The company owes its customers a frank and open explanation of what happened.

If the political pressure was the reason they cancelled it, then that would be very bad because:
- they said it was "operational reasons",
- the main issue seems to have been the loss of trains 50, 60 and 61 (morning trains) at intermediate stops, so they still could have gone ahead with making 68/69 (evening trains) non-stop.

VIA now publicly blaming CN. Would be interesting to hear CN’s side of this.

Via Rail hits the brakes on nonstop Montreal-Toronto service pilot project

Via Rail has hit the brakes on nonstop service on some trains travelling between Montréal–Toronto due to “operational constraints” with CN, according to the Crown corporation.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[reaperexpress]

VIA now publicly blaming CN. Would be interesting to hear CN’s side of this.

Via Rail hits the brakes on nonstop Montreal-Toronto service pilot project

Via Rail has hit the brakes on nonstop service on some trains travelling between Montréal–Toronto due to “operational constraints” with CN, according to the Crown corporation.

www.ctvnews.ca

It's a good start but it still doesn't tell us much. What was CN's concern?

As an aside, I'm disappointed with the quality of reporting as usual. They mentioned the opposition from Eastern Ontario cities but fail to give context of what the effect actually is on those cities. They say 4 trips would run express. Okay, but how much of a service reduction is that to the cities? Are they losing 2% of their trips? 100%? Who knows!

 

[Urban Sky]

It's a good start but it still doesn't tell us much. What was CN's concern?

Just speculating here, but the two factors usually consuming capacity are:

1. Heterogeneity of average speed between different speed types.
2. Stopping at stations which require the use of a certain track.

Whereas I do see why skipping stops at stations like Cornwall and Brockville would reduce interference with CN‘s own operations, I don‘t understand how CN would care about stops at Dorval, Kingston, Belleville, Cobourg or Oshawa. At the same time, I don‘t see how speeding up travel time (and thus increasing the gap in average speed compared to CN‘s own trains) would better suit CN than the status quo - and they are usually reluctant to make concessions which would exacerbate the already existing conflicts between CN and VIA…

 

[nfitz]

VIA now publicly blaming CN. Would be interesting to hear CN’s side of this.

At the same time, you have to wonder at the extreme level of gross incompetency to announce it publicly, if CN hadn't already signed off on it.

(or if CN changed their mind at the last minute, why that wasn't detailed by VIA)

 

[rbt]

At the same time, you have to wonder at the extreme level of gross incompetency to announce it publicly, if CN hadn't already signed off on it.

(or if CN changed their mind at the last minute, why that wasn't detailed by VIA)

Indeed. Though, it does demonstrate in a very public way why VIA should have their own corridor. As far as selling the ALTO project, the trial has already been a success.

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

Indeed. Though, it does demonstrate in a very public way why VIA should have their own corridor.

I was out to see No 60/50 and 61 today, hoping to video them flying through Kingston. But with the last-minute reprieve, it was the usual station stop for both. A third disappoinment was the reported use of the DSX or XS-J termed double short Venture set. Not used, 53 was LRC.

The station staff member took two passengers for each of those trains out to the platform, and said, "I was thinking this was going to be a pretty empty train". Seats were occupied by Toronto passengers, and the two for each train at Kingston may have been walk-ups. Seems that everyone who was involuntarily rebooked after the announcement of the pilot project stayed that way.

I can't really believe CN had a hand in this, though VIA is blaming them. Were the express not billed as staying on their normal schedule while not incurring the delays on boarding/disembarking at several online stations? How does this affect CN? I would say that their train 372 operated mid morning within the same ten-minute span three days in a row this weekend. Now that's precision scheduling!!

Mayors, MPPs and MPs dumped on this pilot project on behalf of their online communities. VIA says 70% of passengers wanted this change. My question is, which 70%? Each and every other train at Kingston today had a very healthy knot of bus-, Uber- and taxi-borne passengers arriving to board. VIA really seems to have blown this roll-out, whomever is to blame in reality!

Photo shows No 60/50 (Venture Sets 24XL and 21) arriving to board two Ottawa-bound passengers on what would have the first day of the planned (then crashed) pilot. Two!

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

VIA Venture set serviceability for the past 10+ months. Long-time 'shop queens' Sets 2 and 4 on their way back to revenue service, Set 1 at TMC may follow though not officially received by VIA. Red cells under 'September 29' may turn white if those Sets return to service next week.

This table is built from personal and reported observations from across the Corridor - usually 60-80 per week - therefore the results should be accurate. If anything, the number of Sets in service (23 last week, 25 the week before) may be slightly higher than shown. The DXS Set, comprising four leftover units from each of Sets 7 and 25 has been in limited service for the last three weeks.

• Monday of each week at top, Set # at left.
• RED = Set not in service for 2 or more weeks.
• WHITE = In revenue service.
• YELLOW = Break-in period.
• GREEN = Set received by VIA.
  
  
  

 

[Bordercollie]

VIA Venture set serviceability for the past 10+ months. Long-time 'shop queens' Sets 2 and 4 on their way back to revenue service, Set 1 at TMC may follow though not officially received by VIA. Red cells under 'September 29' may turn white if those Sets return to service next week.

This table is built from personal and reported observations from across the Corridor - usually 60-80 per week - therefore the results should be accurate. If anything, the number of Sets in service (23 last week, 25 the week before) may be slightly higher than shown. The DXS Set, comprising four leftover units from each of Sets 7 and 25 has been in limited service for the last three weeks.

• Monday of each week at top, Set # at left.
• RED = Set not in service for 2 or more weeks.
• WHITE = In revenue service.
• YELLOW = Break-in period.
• GREEN = Set received by VIA.
  View attachment 685810View attachment 685811

Are those still out of service due to windshield issues?

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

Are those still out of service due to windshield issues?

I believe the windshield issue, which arose during the winter months, has been resolved.

 

[Bordercollie]

So that rumour about LRC'S being pulled for inspection was not true?

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

So that rumour about LRC'S being pulled for inspection was not true?

Well, four to six trains (Nos 40 and 63 each day, plus some days' 46, 53, 64, 66, 67, 69) last weekend that were supposed to be LRC consists but were instead equipped with Ventures. Perhaps due to cracks and resulting inspections being conducted on the LRC fleet? There were 17 coaches and 10 Business Class cars that I did not observe on any of the four days I was trackside. That's a high number.