Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
Look at the Winnipeg-Toronto fares for VIA and the airlines, then look at travel times and frequency. Tell me what advantage exactly VIA offers. Scenery maybe? Once will be more than enough for most people. I guess VIA stops in Capreol and Sioux Lookout so there's that.
Face it, you can throw everything at it and you will never, ever, ever draw major market share on that route. Better to focus on the routes where rail actually stands a chance.
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...rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks....
There's a bunch of overlap, but the most efficient way to move people roughly comes down to this:
Bus: between small-medium sized communities and a larger hub with a distance of <500km.
Regular Rail: between larger centres with a distance of <500km.
High-speed rail: between major metros with a distance of <1000km.
Airplane: between larger centres with a distance of >1000km, or those who are very time-sensitive.
Admittedly, North America's focus on the car absolutely annihilates a lot of the <500km demand. Doubly so in smaller places, where a car is essentially mandatory at a certain point or one is stuck.
This is demonstrated by:
- the decline in short-haul flights to smaller destinations
- the decline of long-haul bus travel, except as a subsidized government service
- VIA's continued irrelevance on long-haul travel, except for tourism and a continued mandated service to certain communities.
In essence, bus travel will become the 'regional service' from the nearest hub city to smaller outlying communities for those without a car. The smaller/farther the community, the more likely the government will need to provide a subsidy/service.
Airlines will continue to dominate the long-haul transportation option. The speed simply can't be beat for convenience, and I'd wager a full airliner with 150-300 passengers still beats a poky diesel train in terms of efficiency over longer distances.
That leaves rail a handful of routes in this country where it might be something viable or provide a decent value on the subsidy it gets.