mdvle Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) Effective today VIA has cancelled both the Canadian and the Ocean until at least March 27th, with the possibility of extension https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information Edited March 15, 2020 by mdvle Add amtrak to the list of fun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 Metrolinx has announced that GO Transit (both trains and buses) and UPExpress will be having revised schedules starting Wednesday March 18th (with the schedules available Sunday) reflecting the decreased demand from school/public attraction/other closures as well as business work at home policies. https://blog.metrolinx.com/2020/03/13/metrolinx-releases-latest-update-while-responding-to-covid-19-pandemic/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Scotian Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Thanks for posting this - doesn't make sense to put people in a metal tube for 24 hours to travel between provinces. (The Ocean). Nova Scotia has no confirmed cases yet, New Brunswick only has one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 Part of the issue for VIA will be that those 2 trains are to some extent rail cruises, mainly for foreign tourists, and they aren't travelling to Canada at the moment so I would guess a lot of cancellations have been happening anyway - with the added issue of the CN forced shutdown recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Amtrak has joined in the reducing service levels club. Neither of the Toronto or Montreal cross-border trains will cross the border for the rest of March, terminating/originating in Niagara Falls NY or Albany. The Northeast Corridor and Keystone services will also be operating on a Saturday schedule for the remaining weekdays in March. https://www.amtrak.com/coronavirus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 So Amtrak has extended the Saturday schedule used M-F to the Hartford Line and Valley Flyer effective tomorrow. This restriction, as well as the Toronto/Montreal cross border cancellations mentioned above, do not come with an end date https://www.amtrak.com/alert/nec-modified-schedule.html VIA Rail has made further service reductions effective Tuesday, with 50% of corridor service cancelled due to a lack of demand. Further precautions will be undertaken in addition to the existing extra cleaning, including reduced food services on board (snack and water for economy, light meal and water for business, no other food or beverage available) and extra staff onboard to do cleaning during each trip. Toronto Sarnia/Winnipeg-Churchill/Sudbury-White River all remain on their normal service. https://media.viarail.ca/en/news/2020/latest-rail-update-response-covid-19 The new GO timetables can be found here https://www.gotransit.com/en/trip-planning/go-service-updates/train-schedule-changes Biggest changes on the 2 Lakeshore lines, and as well UPExpress goes from a 15 minute interval to 30 minute Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 Amtrak has cancelled the Winter Park Express for the remainder of the season. And for completeness, anyone attempting to use Amtrak service to Vancouver should be aware that Canada has closed the border to anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or (for now) a US citizen. Not sure what would happen if someone not on that list tried to take the train. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 17, 2020 Author Share Posted March 17, 2020 And my question above became redundant as Amtrak has suspended Cascades service to Vancouver. Amtrak is also making further schedule changes including: Northeast corridor running a 40% weekday schedule Keystone service is suspended as of Wednesday March 18th / all Pennsylvanian trains as of Thursday March 19 Amtrak Downeaster being reduced on temporary basis from March 17th to March 22. some Cafe service is suspended on Washington DC to NYC trains. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 Amtrak continues to cut back on service. Added to the cancelled list is the Pere Marquette (Chicago - Grand Rapids), with reduced service on Amtrak bus routes, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Hiawatha, and Wolverine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 Further cutbacks announced by VIA, effective Monday March 23. Ocean / Canadian cancelled until May 1st. Skeena cancelled until further notice. Toronto - Niagara Falls cancelled until further notice all other route cuts until April 15, subject to possible extension Sudbury - White River - one trip week (Sat/Sun) Montreal - Jonquiere/Senneterre - one trip week (Friday/Sunday) Winnipeg - Churchill - no sleeping car Corridor - all services that remain are coach only (no business class), make all stops food service now restricted to snack & water all station lounges closed. Montreal - Toronto down to 2 trips/day, other routes also have further cuts go to https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information to see list of all cancelled services Further service reductions by Amtrak include reduced services on (effective Saturday) Capital Corridor (San Jose - Sacramento) Illini/Saluki (Chicago - Carbondale) Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg (Chicago - Quincy) Lincoln Service (Chicago - St. Louis) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Amtrak today added the Pacific Surfliner (San Luis Obispo - San Diego) to the list of reduced service corridors effective Monday. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Effective today the Piedmont (Charlotte - Raleigh) is on reduced service. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 Service cuts continue. GO Transit no longer accepting cash on its buses or at ticket counters VIA rail no longer offering carry-on baggage assistance (except for disabled), and checked baggage suspended except for Sudbury/White River and Winnipeg/Churchill. VIA also indicates further timetable cuts under review. Amtrak has some major changes - Acela service cancelled, with non-Acela Northeast Corridor services running on a reduced schedule (it had been 40%, no indication currently so likely less). Reduced Amtrak service on the San Joaquins (Bakersfield - Oakland and Sacremento) starting March 26th. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 26, 2020 Author Share Posted March 26, 2020 Amtrak - Vermonter (Washington - St. Albans) - no service north of New Haven (M-Sat), no service Sunday. Missouri River Runner (St. Louis - Kansas City) reduced service starting March 30 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 VIA - further cuts effective Tuesday March 31st. The following routes will be cut from 2 services a day to 1 service a day: Quebec - Montreal - Ottawa - Fallowfield Montreal - Toronto Ottawa - Toronto Toronto - Windsor Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 From just over a week ago, Amtrak ridership is down 90% and future bookings down 85% https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/amtrak-1-billion-management-pay-unprecedented-ridership-revenue-loss-20200321.html Amtrak service cut - California Zephr (Chicago - Emeryville) - no service between Reno and Denver - reports employee tested positive and thus all other employees on that segment are in isolation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 VIA has announced that the Canadian and Ocean will remain suspended until November 1st. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 18 hours ago, mdvle said: VIA has announced that the Canadian and Ocean will remain suspended until November 1st. ....and I suspect they will never re-start. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 I wouldn't give odds either way at this point, other than to say VIA is planning to restart. But part of that is apparently an inspection of the Budd equipment has revealed structural issues in some of the coaches, and so work will be done between now and November to inspect the entire fleet and make repairs - internal letter to VIA employees was posted on a different forum at this link - https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/via-rail.21060/post-1553430 So it may be just as well that international travel has been suspended, and is unlikely to resume anytime soon, making either of those trains pointless (not to mention internal travel between provinces is in some cases currently banned/discouraged - I believe the some of the maritime provinces have indicated visitors are not welcome at this time). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Scotian Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 27 minutes ago, mdvle said: I wouldn't give odds either way at this point, other than to say VIA is planning to restart. But part of that is apparently an inspection of the Budd equipment has revealed structural issues in some of the coaches, and so work will be done between now and November to inspect the entire fleet and make repairs - internal letter to VIA employees was posted on a different forum at this link - https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/via-rail.21060/post-1553430 So it may be just as well that international travel has been suspended, and is unlikely to resume anytime soon, making either of those trains pointless (not to mention internal travel between provinces is in some cases currently banned/discouraged - I believe the some of the maritime provinces have indicated visitors are not welcome at this time). Correct - New Brunswick has closed its borders to non-essential travel. Stranding me in a separate province to my children (I usually travel between the two). Nova Scotia is interviewing all arrivals and you have to self-isolate for 2 weeks. PEI and NL seem to have very strict rules. The Ocean had already had its service halved a few years ago, this will probably spell the end. Which is very disappointing as I've been trying to figure out a way to make a trip on it work; but the schedule is awful for when I have meetings in Quebec City or Montreal, and I always end up flying. Be nice to claim to have sat/slept in a Nightstar MK4 - just on the wrong continent. The only ray of hope is that typically their business picks up in the run up to Christmas, and they may be tempted to reinstate for that period. Much easier to socially distance from other passengers in a sleeper cab rather than crammed into a Q400 - if they had decent wifi onboard, ran a better schedule and did some track upgrades (reduce time, allow you to turn around quicker on a return), they may pick up those no longer wanting to travel by air. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 15 minutes ago, Nova Scotian said: The Ocean had already had its service halved a few years ago, this will probably spell the end. The Ocean is already facing another issue - VIA is losing access to the turning loop in Halifax as of November 1st(?) so will be unable to turn the Ocean around. VIA hasn't indicated what their solution is yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Scotian Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, mdvle said: The Ocean is already facing another issue - VIA is losing access to the turning loop in Halifax as of November 1st(?) so will be unable to turn the Ocean around. VIA hasn't indicated what their solution is yet. Yeah - it's a real problem how constrained the rail network is for space in Halifax. I can't imagine it works to send it as far as Bedford for a loop. Push/pull set probably technologically not feasible? Would also upset the dome customers. As can see a time when they decide downtown is too difficult, like they did in Saint John, and move to a pre-fab station just outside the city. Passenger numbers drop further; then the service goes away. Ugh. Depressing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Agawa Canyon Tour Train opening postponed from June 16th to at least September 1st http://www.agawatrain.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 As restrictions start to get relaxed VIA is responding with some increased service. Starting June 3rd trains 62 and 669 resume on Toronto-Montreal, and trains 52, 48, 59 resume on the Toronto-Ottawa section. The Skeena is expected to resume in July (since the begging of the pandemic CN has been doing major infrastructure upgrades that prevented VIA from running any service). In the US Amtrak is resuming at least some Acela service on June 1st, the Hiawatha (Chicago-Milwaukee) returns May 25, and the Silver Meteor/Silver Star (NY-Miami) returning June 3rd. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 Amtrak. In a letter to employees, which has been posted on a 3rd party website, the following has been stated regarding Amtrak so far and going into 2021: beginning Oct 1 2020 - 32% fewer NEC, 24% fewer state supported, most long distance trains to 3 days / week ridership is down by as much as 95%, long distance service is down 70% expect systemwide ridership FY 2021to be 50% of 2019 http://texasrailadvocates.org/2020/06/15/amtrak-to-cut-national-trains-to-3-day-a-week-service/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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