VIA Rail

[lenaitch]

@lenaitch re your comment about GO north. Before reinstatement of Northlander I would have gone along with that but now that it is returning along with a significant ROW acquisition it’s not unfair to ask what Ontario’s policy is for rail is, and therefore why we would spend there and not in Sudbury, other than some form of electoral arithmetic

In terms of an overall rail transport policy, or transportation policy, for Ontario, or at least non-GTA centric commuter rail? I doubt one exists. All of the Northlander activity is to support and enhance operations on a railway they own, and railway that the previous Liberal government, tried to divest. I see no indication that they intend to own more.

 

[micheal_can]

Realistically, nothing concrete from VIA and probably just railfan scuttlebutt. Then there's this: If they used F40PHs on that line, they'd regularly have to deadhead down to Toronto for maintenance, which is a pretty expensive operation because it means running over CP tracks on which VIA doesn't have any running rights.

Could they not move them to Capreol and connect them to the Canadian as it passes through? A much shorter reroute, and regularly done with CN crews.

 

[Allandale25]

According to Global News, the federal government is slashing Via Rail's budget by 50% ($1 Billion) this coming year:

At the same time, the budget for the department of Finance is being increased by $8.5 Billion and the budget for National Defense is being increased by $5.3 Billion, and Via HFR is being increased by $0.1 Billion. Not sure why HFR is still a department, unless Alto is still operating under that name.

Some important context:

Text of the rest of the thread:

2/ All these claims trace back to a series of reporting over last few weeks that has been happening since the Main Estimates were tabled.What’s important to know is that the Main Estimates are just 1 of often 4 or 5 times throughout the year in which Parliament votes spending.To get into those processes you have to go to Treasury Board and get approval for *how* you’ll spend the money the Budget authorized you to do.Delays getting through this step push back which supply period new programs or investments can be slotted into.

3/ Mains somewhat solve for this by ensuring that departments get 25% of their previous year’s base allocation so that the can operate through the time it takes Parliament to approve other spending.But Mains aren’t a full picture of what is happening.If money “sunsets” and has to be renewed that process may not catch up in time for Mains. OR as the government recently did - when there are changes in the budget process and timing (now the fall) that will alters when new investments move through the system at TB etc.That happened this year.

4/ So we shouldn’t be surprised that trying to compare Mains to previous baselines - including ones that capture a full not partial year - are therefore incomplete.For example - the government has announced it intends to top up new funding to CBC. But that money isn’t in the Mains.It will likely will still come. Just later.

5/ Some of this should be obvious to people like
@avilewis
who is a former journalist.The reporting he’s relying on said Canada Post would be cut 98%That’s just not happening.It’s a quirk of timing.

6/ Obviously there are ways to improve the transparency and timing of fiscal data.But people who know better should be better.If you want to know how money will be spent next year look at Budget 2025.The government is spending lots of money.

You can see it here[:]: https://budget.canada.ca/2025/report-rapport/pdf/budget-2025.pdf

And, this statement from the President of the Treasury Board seems to be related:

 

[Bordercollie]

So have buffer cars been marshalled into LRC consists? Adding a HEP car for buffer is going to slow the whole train down. Not to mention the extra weight.

Can they not cycle more ventures into service?

 

[cplchanb]

So have buffer cars been marshalled into LRC consists? Adding a HEP car for buffer is going to slow the whole train down. Not to mention the extra weight.

Can they not cycle more ventures into service?

Fortunately the temps are warmer now so the freezing Ventures should be gone for now. Hopefully that will mean more lrcs can be retired and a fix can be found soon

 

[Bordercollie]

Fortunately the temps are warmer now so the freezing Ventures should be gone for now. Hopefully that will mean more lrcs can be retired and a fix can be found soon

There are some at CAD now. I wonder if there is going to be a mass retirement.

 

[dowlingm]

So have buffer cars been marshalled into LRC consists? Adding a HEP car for buffer is going to slow the whole train down. Not to mention the extra weight.

Can they not cycle more ventures into service?

From what I read elsewhere, it looks like the buffer cars may in some/most cases be LRCs, just running non-revenue and no crew access.

 

[Bordercollie]

From what I read elsewhere, it looks like the buffer cars may in some/most cases be LRCs, just running non-revenue and no crew access.

So how do they do reverse moves? Or is that an exception?

 

[dowlingm]

So how do they do reverse moves? Or is that an exception?

good question. Probably safe to assume that it's not practical to have 2 locos on all such consists. But as you say maybe wyeing is already exceptional such that it doesn't cause an issue.

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

From what I read elsewhere, it looks like the buffer cars may in some/most cases be LRCs, just running non-revenue and no crew access.

Like the HEP buffer cars, the LRC buffer car consists are going to look identical to regular LRC consists, except for perhaps car count. There are very few buffer consists complete as of today. The main visual difference is going to be whether there are heads in windows or just an empty car. Is it an 8-car LRC consist pre-buffer, or a buffered 6-car consist with two buffer cars on either end? Re: backup moves, the full notice to VIA running trades employees is at the 'live' end of this post:

VIA Ventures in Service, Part 5

Back in January, 2024 and with the delivery of the twelfth Siemens Venture set, I split my very first Siemens Venture post first published o...

tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com

I should be able to check out the buffer car LRC consists later this week in more detail! There are still, however, many four-car consists east of Toronto, just as there have been before this measure was announced. I don't think this is a two car revenue consist with two buffer cars. I think it's as yet just an unbuffered consist.

The really interesting ones are the polyglot LRC/HEP2 consists that are running on Nos 64/65 around March 16: 3LRC-2 HEP2 Business Class-3 LRC. Around the same time, Nos 66-67 started running with a slimmed-down 6 car LRC consist, down from 8, perhaps in preparation for addition of buffer cars on either end.

 

[dowlingm]

Is the January 2027 date the first time an LRC retirement date has been formally stated?

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

Is the January 2027 date the first time an LRC retirement date has been formally stated?

The LRC fleet retirement schedule is at least five years old, and can be seen in this post:

VIA's LRC in Decline

It's a funny feeling to be trackside with VIA over the last 40 years , spanning not only the genesis of VIA but also the implementation of...

tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

The LRC fleet retirement schedule is at least five years old, and can be seen in this post:

VIA's LRC in Decline

It's a funny feeling to be trackside with VIA over the last 40 years , spanning not only the genesis of VIA but also the implementation of...

tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com

No details accompany this VIA table, re: what constitutes HEP1 or HEP2.

NA is not really a date, though...

 

[Bordercollie]

Does anybody else feel that riding in a Bombardier Bi Level Can car is more comfortable than a Venture can car?

Im not talking about the seats. I'm talking about how the train interacts with the rails. I find even at high speeds the GO cab cars are quieter and handle the track better.

 

[Bordercollie]

One of the main factors behind how quiet and smoothly a train rides is to do with the weight of the car, and the weight of the train as a whole. Heavier vehicle, smoother ride.

A empty Bombardier BiLevel (as seen on GO Transit) weighs about 61,000 kg. A empty mid-train Venture Economy coach weighs about 51,000 kg. So Bombardier's already at an advantage.

And if they're full, oh boy: a crush-loaded BiLevel can take about 410 passengers, while the Venture's only going to fit 72. Even if we assume each Venture passenger is carrying 15 kg of luggage, that's 31,775 kg of passenger-weight on the BiLevel up against 6,660 kg on the Venture, a difference of nearly 40%. (And producing a much smoother ride.)

So I guess riding in the locomotive is a better ride then. Although the cab car is super quiet minus the horn.

Also the bilevel has better sound dampening, I find that the horn vibrates through the cab on venture sets.