Transport Canada, the department within the government responsible for developing regulations, policies, and transportation services has been reviewing the Canadian government’s support for passenger rail since 2008. “Potential service level reductions could include: reduced frequencies on the western and eastern transcontinental service; reduced frequencies to certain remote areas; and, removing regional services in rural areas that are well served by other public modes and highways,” staff say in the note.
The briefing note also shows Canada is looking at improving service between Windsor and Quebec City, including through high-speed rail, but Transport Ministry spokesman Florea said a high-speed rail network would cost between C$20 billion and C$40 billion.
Likely this is just another "Perils of Pauline" for VIA. They've had 'em in the past and they'll surely have them again in the future.
But take a look at the Revenues to subsidy numbers (subscription required); Amtrak is the modicom of efficiency in comparasion.
But VIA offers an on-board service product that puts Amtrak to shame; therefore it's good Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Even Amtrak's Auto-Train is a milk run compared to the Canadian.
Posted by ghCBNS (Member # 3093) on :
Probably in no more of the "Perils of Pauline" troubles Amtrak finds itself in from time to time.....and VIA will continue on providing that great on-board product.
"A spokesman for Transport Minister Denis Lebel says privatizing the passenger rail service isn't on the table"
These discussion documents surface every few years.......Even the very pro-VIA, Transport Minister David Collenette looked at privatization when the Liberals were in power 10 years ago.
Posted by ghCBNS (Member # 3093) on :
Today (Jan 24) sees the launch of a revised Corridor Schedule which includes faster trains and new non-stop expresses between Ottawa and Toronto.....The results of what VIA terms the “Billion Dollar Transformation”. Miles of new triple track on the Montreal-Toronto mainline and a rebuilding of the Ottawa-Smiths Falls-Brockville route with CTC and new passing sidings to increase capacity and speeds.
The new schedules don't please everyone. Many residents of Cornwall, including the business community, are furious about losing some service. The last Toronto-Montreal trains of the day (#68 and 69) have been eliminated, as has the late evening Toronto-Kingston train. Until yesterday there were six trains per day each way on the direct Toronto-Montreal line; now there are five.
VIA is making a big deal that there are now 10 weekday trains from Montreal to Toronto. But five of these run via Ottawa and can take up to seven hours. From Toronto to Montreal there are eight trains, but two of them are "J" trains (Montreal direct and Montreal via Ottawa, splitting in Brockville) so in reality there are only six departure times eastbound. This imbalance in the number of trains is rather strange.
But there is now an express train each way between Toronto and Ottawa and more trains between Montreal and Ottawa.
Posted by Vincent206 (Member # 15447) on :
VIA's financial information isn't as complete as Amtrak's, but there are some interesting numbers. The long distance trains--The Canadian and The Ocean--provide about 31% of VIA's total passenger revenue. VIA's financials don't break out the expenses by individual trains line, but I'll guess that the Canadian LDs are just as costly as Amtrak's. Overall, VIA's trains cost about $84/mile to operate, which is almost identical to the cost of Amtrak's trains. (Interesting also that VIA lists its train costs and ridership numbers in miles instead of kilometers.)
Comparing 2011 to 2010, The Canadian increased revenue by 6.6% and the passenger count increased 0.7%, but passenger miles traveled decreased by 0.4%. I wonder if The Canadian's longer schedule has decreased its attractiveness for passengers thinking about riding end to end?
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