VIA Rail

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by acottawa

How many cars do you take off the road with this multi billion dollar electrification project? The Dayliner took 5 hours and had a negligible market share. Driving is 90 minutes, the bus is 2 hours.

First,just because the line is reactivated so that Via can run, does not mean it has to be the only thing to run on it. The Dayliner could come back on any timing that makes sense to serve the entire Island effectively. The local governments could then build what is needed for a commuter rail service. I have been told by locals that study this kind of stuff, that if the service was set properly, they would need several Budd cars to match the demand. Looking at newer tech, the UPX trains, likely about 4 of them each way.

Originally Posted by acottawa

The program was temporarily expanded in 2021 because of COVID; airports like North Bay are not normally eligible.

So, then you were wrong that airports get no money from the federal government.

Originally Posted by acottawa

As far as I know Vancouver Island is still and island.

Yes, and?

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

The existence of the method doesn't necessarily mean that it's automatically economically justifiable or a priority. The majority of emissions, after all, are not in far flung areas....

What someone in a far flung area tends to feel is that they are virtually ignored by governments. By throwing them a bone, it shows them that their taxes that pay for the big city investments are not in vain. Imagine if all taxes collected must be spent in the same locale it was collected from>?

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

And it would be nice for me to have the latest maglev Chuo Shinkansen style HSR in Ottawa, so I could visit my brother in Montreal and my parents in Toronto with ease. However, I know that this isn't really economically sensible, even if there was a willingness to spend an insane amount of money.

Ah, yes, the strawman argument. Sounds like something a senile unintelligent person would say. Why not talk about real things that are really on the table? Likely because there is not good argument you can have for it.

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Would that be nice for my cousin in Nanaimo? Absolutely. Is it a wise public investment? Probably not. We're a country that doesn't have frequent electrified service between any of our major centres, including in two corridors which are some of the busiest air and road corridors in the world. And you're worried about improving the weekend trips between the 16th and 35th largest CMAs? When your roof leaks, do you give equal priority to buffing the baseboards of the powder room?

You know electric trains are actually running all over Canada? They just carry their method of generating that electricity on board. There is a reason most engines these days are called Diesel Electric.

Originally Posted by acottawa

If Vancouver Island wants a commuter rail service that may well be a good idea, but it should be run/funded by local authorities, not Via.

Agreed. And at no time am I suggesting that Via provides that service. I am saying Via could own the tracks that the local commuter rail uses.

Originally Posted by casper

The Tilbury terminal on the mainland and the railyard in downtown Nanaimo can be connected by rail ferry/barges. Moving railcars on/off the island use to be more common decades ago.

https://www.seaspan.com/seaspan-ferries/terminals-fleet/

I am guessing that as the railway fell into disrepair trucks started to bite the bullet and take the ferry as a commercial vehicle, not as a freight load.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

VIA is highly unsuccessful by nearly every metric. It's slow, highly unreliable, expensive, and for 40% of the country's population, completely useless. VIA is everything you never wanted in a rail provider and then some.
VIA was not an idea acted upon but rather a plan written on the back of a napkin in a furry due to CP wanting {aka demanding} they get out of the passenger rail business. It was left with old rolling stock and no railways to run their trains on so it was doomed from the start. When you add in all the political interference over the year it simply made an impossible situation worse.

Ottawa should ditch VIA entirely and get out of the rail business acting as nothing more than an overseer to make sure safety and quality are maintained while prices are kept in check, just like telecommunications or a lot of arms-length government controlled agencies.

What it sounds like you are saying is because the government of the time screwed up, that we should abandon it? Why not actually make it relevant. Make it more useful than just land yachts?Imagine if the Corridor service was treated how the rest was?Imagine how quickly it would become irrelevant. The 1990s saw that huge cuts were needed or huge tax increases were needed. So, the government slashed as much as it could and kept slashing. Now, with the challenges with transportation via other methods, it is time to reinvest in Via. Bring back service to places where the line was shut down due to disrepair. Bring back service to places that should have service. Improve service such that it is realistic for most people to use it. A train passing every day on a route that currently has 3x a week does make some sense.

Originally Posted by esquire

It's amazing how the fundamental VIA model has not changed in nearly a half century of existence, despite the fact that most economically advanced countries (and even some not-so-advanced ones) have totally re-imagined passenger rail over that timespan. It's still basically operating an emaciated version of what CN and CP were doing in 1976.

And that is the problem that really needs to be fixed.

Originally Posted by thurmas

Via desperately needs to be privatized its a national embarrassment and will never evolve to be a reliable transport provider to diversivify us off air transport.

You are an embarrassment to Canadians. All you want is everything privatized.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

There is only one other route besides the Corridor that has a solid business model behind it...........Calgary/Edmonton. Then again why should VIA connect our 4th & 5th largest cities that are 280km apart when they can continue to connect the far more important cities of Prince Rupert & Prince George that are 700km apart?

Ottawa should just shut VIA down and finally acknowledge that it's a railway model that simply can't work. Ottawa should GIVE VIA's limited trackage away as well as it's rolling to stock to a private company in exchange for them building the entire Corridor HSR by twinning tracks, over/underpasses, electrification etc. from Windsor to Quebec City. They could use some of those funds to also open a Cal/Edm HSR route. Ottawa would be able to set maximum fares and frequency minimums.

Such a system would give large swaths of Canadians a truly fast and reliable railway, release Ottawa from it's financial obligations, and take the politics out of our rail system so it goes back to a passenger driven transportation option and not a politically driven one.

No private company would want any of it.
First, their rolling stock is not in good condition.
Second, having to negotiate with CN/CP is a nonstarter.

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Yeah the UK finally had to fix the huge mistake of privatisation after it failed miserably. Definitely not something privatization proponents should be pointing to as a proof of concept. Probably better to just avoid the topic.

I wish more people would learn from other's mistakes.

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Urban Sky has provided math before. The Canadian covers a substantial part of its cost. In essence the land cruise patrons subsidize those riding the Canadian for just a short portion to access the nearest town/city. Take this away and the subsidy required would skyrocket.

He also argued when you show him the math showed that the southern route was more profitable and yet it was cut. Which, ironically how many people, like you seem to act.