VIA Rail news

[mdvle]

1) the first revenue run of the new Siemens trains was November 8th on Montreal-Ottawa trains

 

 

2) VIA has (for about a month now) been using a non-revenue car at the rear of all trains using the Budd stainless equipment.  This is a result of concerns being investigated with online reports that a HEP-1 and HEP-2 car have been or will be sent to Ottawa for compression testing

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/via-rail-canada-adds-buffer-cars-to-rear-of-all-heritage-equipped-trains/

 

And a more recent article with some specific details

http://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2022/11/breaking-buffer-cars-in-news.html

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by mdvle

[Nova Scotian]

8 minutes ago, mdvle said:

1) the first revenue run of the new Siemens trains was November 8th on Montreal-Ottawa trains

 

 

2) VIA has (for about a month now) been using a non-revenue car at the rear of all trains using the Budd stainless equipment.  This is a result of concerns being investigated with online reports that a HEP-1 and HEP-2 car have been or will be sent to Ottawa for compression testing

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/via-rail-canada-adds-buffer-cars-to-rear-of-all-heritage-equipped-trains/

 

 

My parents were on the "Ocean" in the last month and commented on the buffer car - of course this is in addition to the trainsets no longer being turned and therefore not having dome/observation cars, but they do have Budd sleepers. 

 

Rail service - at least to the east coast - continues its decline. I assume as new Siemens trainsets come online the rest of the country will be dripfed any coaches that can pass an inspection as we wait on a decision to other recapitalize the rail fleet outside of the windsor-quebec corridor, or for them to finally pull the plug.

 

As a side note I've been looking at tickets for December on the Ocean - very, very little sleeper availability. It doesn't seem unpopular - but I doubt there'll be any analysis of lost revenue (due to capacity) when doing profit/loss for the line.

[mdvle]

36 minutes ago, Nova Scotian said:

As a side note I've been looking at tickets for December on the Ocean - very, very little sleeper availability. It doesn't seem unpopular - but I doubt there'll be any analysis of lost revenue (due to capacity) when doing profit/loss for the line.

 

Capacity depends on if they are adding an otherwise spare vehicle onto the end of the train or taking away seats/beds to get an empty vehicle.

 

But there is no profit/loss - just a variation on how big the loss is.

 

VIA's 2019 annual report (so no Covid impact) shows the Ocean as losing C$42 million with a government subsidy per passenger of C$535

 

 

[Nova Scotian]

2 hours ago, mdvle said:

 

Capacity depends on if they are adding an otherwise spare vehicle onto the end of the train or taking away seats/beds to get an empty vehicle.

 

But there is no profit/loss - just a variation on how big the loss is.

 

VIA's 2019 annual report (so no Covid impact) shows the Ocean as losing C$42 million with a government subsidy per passenger of C$535

 

 

Not surprising - it's not fast enough nor regular enough to ever make sense for my business travel (a one-two day conference becomes 5 days, whereas with a flight I can often fly back the night before and sometimes in the morning of). The quality of service is declining as a tourism operation, no dome car or observation car.

 

It's not useful for intercity travel unless Moncton - Halifax, but even then it's much slower than by car. It doesn't go through the other two main NB cities.

 

If the Via / the feds kill it, I hope they come up with real options for travel in the maritimes, preferably lower carbon. It's seven hours by bus from Halifax to Saint John, or four hours driving by car. Halifax to Charlottetown and/or Moncton a little better. Local air service was hammered by COVID, such that YSJ, YQM, YFC, YQY and YYG have had quite significant cuts. YQM and YYG probably the least, by virtue of size, and location.

 

I doubt the service could ever be profitable given they don't own the tracks, the track quality in NB is such that the speeds are very slow, they have no economies of scale in staffing, resourcing, equipment etc from having any other service out this way. Any investment in new equipment isn't going to pay off, even if it did increase ridership etc. I can imagine the breakeven point is just too out of reach for the volumes of people that would travel.

 

Ultimately the lack of decent public transport out here is what will probably drive me out to look to live elsewhere.

[jsp3970]

Several Budd cars, including a 'Park' were recently sighted at CAD in Lachine, apparently for the interiors to be removed, before heading to the NAC in Ottawa for testing.

 

The other news I have heard is that the Canadian Government is going to take away the HFR and award it to a private company, both for construction and operation.

[mdvle]

On 13/11/2022 at 18:30, jsp3970 said:

The other news I have heard is that the Canadian Government is going to take away the HFR and award it to a private company, both for construction and operation.

 

Sort of.

 

The VIA HFR proposal is a PPP (public private partnership) where the private sector builds the infrastructure and leases is back to the government (or government entity like VIA) to use.

 

 

[mdvle]

On 13/11/2022 at 12:44, Nova Scotian said:

I doubt the service could ever be profitable given they don't own the tracks, the track quality in NB is such that the speeds are very slow, they have no economies of scale in staffing, resourcing, equipment etc from having any other service out this way. Any investment in new equipment isn't going to pay off, even if it did increase ridership etc. I can imagine the breakeven point is just too out of reach for the volumes of people that would travel.

 

Ownership of the tracks isn't the issue - passenger rail generally doesn't make money and often when someone claims it does it will because it either is a luxury tour operation (Rocky Mountaineer, Orient Express, etc) or there is some other thing driving the revenue like real estate.

 

 

[mdvle]

Blog post with the text of the report regarding the issues with the Budd fleet

 

https://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-report-that-hatched-buffer-cars.html

 

[jsp3970]

On 05/12/2022 at 22:45, mdvle said:

Blog post with the text of the report regarding the issues with the Budd fleet

 

https://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-report-that-hatched-buffer-cars.html

 

Living next to the Kingston Sub I have seen quite an mix of Budd cars on the end of the corridor trains, unless I am trackside with a camera in which case it is all LRC cars. This may work for now but if they need to run buffer cars into the summer it may become interesting as they will need the sleepers etc for the Canadian. I am actually surprised that they don't put an LRC car on the end of the HEP trains.

[Dominion]

Dropped my son off for the Ottawa train last weekend and found he was in one of the Budd cars.

[Dominion]

I was also surprised to see a Manor car on the end. (Toronto to Ottawa, boarded in Belleville)

Edited January 10, 2023 by Dominion

[sjgardiner]

8 hours ago, Dominion said:

I was also surprised to see a Manor car on the end. (Toronto to Ottawa, boarded in Belleville)

 

The Manor is not in service, and if the Budd coach was the first or last coach in the train, which judging by the closed blinds it was, it’s also not in service.

 

All trains using the 1955 CPR Budd cars or HEP coaches are currently required to have  a buffer car at either end of the occupied consist because of concerns of metal fatigue in the frames of the old cars.

 

Eric Gagnon has been blogging about it, this post contains the Hatch Engineering Report summary and links to his earlier posting on the issue:

http://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-report-that-hatched-buffer-cars.html?m=1
 

It has meant you get weird looks like this early December consist on Number 1:

 

There is both a barrier car and a deadheading park behind the in service park car. Because of the buffer, it’s easier to just move deadheads behind the train instead of at the front as normal, this is the same as during covid restrictions when the dome cars were closed. Saves splitting the train and having to cut power if deadheads are on the tail.

 

I have not yet heard any results from the testing at the National Research Council in Ottawa about when repairs required to eliminate buffers have been identified and then of course, if VIA can actually afford to make the repairs.

 

Regards,

 

Stephen Gardiner

Toronto, ON

[Dominion]

Thanks Stephen. There were 3 Other Budd cars between the one with the blinds down at the front and the manor at the back on his train. The whole lot including it’s loco was coupled to the back of the Montreal section with no Budd cars and they were due to split further East. 

[jsp3970]

On 10/01/2023 at 08:14, Dominion said:

Thanks Stephen. There were 3 Other Budd cars between the one with the blinds down at the front and the manor at the back on his train. The whole lot including it’s loco was coupled to the back of the Montreal section with no Budd cars and they were due to split further East. 

J-trains split in Brockville.