Canadian Railroads > The Chaleur to Gaspe?

I have found it very hard to find reliable information as to the status of The Chaleur from Montreal to Gaspe. According to a local English language newspaper, The Spec, the Chaleur has not been running east of New Carlisle. When I check Via's website there is only silence, and if you were to try to book accommodation between Montreal to Gaspe it shows there is no problem with travelling the entire distance by train. According to this newspaper there will not be any rail service from now until sometime between Nov 30 and Dec 7.

So is Via trying to trick the public into believing there is an actual train the entire distance Montreal to Gaspe? When you arrive in Central Station to board your sleeper, will Via inform you of your bus journey east of New Carlisle? If not this would be quite disgraceful. So does anyone have any accurate information as to what is really going on with the Chaleur?

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have found it very hard to find reliable
> information as to the status of The Chaleur from
> Montreal to Gaspe. ..........

> So does anyone have any accurate information as to
> what is really going on with the Chaleur?

Why not just call VIA??

If you feel you're not getting accurate info, ask to speak to a supervisor and explain the situation. I'm sure they will be able to contact VIA Operations to get up-to-date information.

I had a similar situation earlier this year when I wanted to know for certain if the Ocean would be detouring on the NTR so I could make a rare milage run. I explained why I wanted to know and the very helpfull phone agent put me on hold and had the info for me in two minutes: Yes it would be detouring and I made a reservation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/08 07:06 by ghCBNS.

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So is Via trying to trick the public into
> believing there is an actual train the entire
> distance Montreal to Gaspe? When you arrive in
> Central Station to board your sleeper, will Via
> inform you of your bus journey east of New
> Carlisle? If not this would be quite disgraceful.

Don't think VIA is trying to trick the public at all.

They are in the business to provide transportation from point A to point B. If due to operational difficulties they have to substitute a bus for a portion of the journey you will be compensated. The majority of the passengers just want to get to their destination. I've been in a similar situation and the minor inconvenience of the bus ride for a portion of the trip was really no big deal. I received a credit for the bus journey + a refund on my sleeper accommodations. This was offered to everyone.....no need to even ask.

Yes I could certainly call Via and I may or may not receive accurate information. My point was that a non-railfan passenger may just accept the (non)information on both the website and Reservia. I have taken this route in the past where the train did not make it to Gaspe and the passengers were forced to take a bus with a promise that sleepers would be available somewhere down the line. Clearly we were lied to, and therefore I have not much confidence as to the truthfulness of their information. If Via was being truthful about the current situation at New Carlisle, why don't they post something?

It makes no sense to say Via is in the business of providing transportation, they have an obligation to provide the advertised Rail passenger service. It is hardly a minor inconvenience to be rousted from my first-class sleeper to ride some disgusting bus for hours on end. It seems extraordinary to me that someone who purports to like riding trains would find that bus travel is an appropriate substitute for a train that has dining and sleeping car services. Some minor inconvenience. As far as obtaining a refund, in fact only part of your fare will be refunded according to Via's own formula. Hardly proper compensation.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/08 07:17 by royaltrain.

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes I could certainly call Via and I may or may
> not receive accurate information. My point was
> that a non-railfan passenger may just accept the
> (non)information on both the website and Reservia.

And like I said in my above post, the majority of the "non-railfan" passengers just want to get to their destination and the minor inconvenience of a bus ride over a portion of their journey is really no big deal.

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It makes no sense to say Via is in the business of
> providing transportation, they have an obligation
> to provide the advertised Rail passenger service.

Don't think so.....If you read the "fine print" they have an obligation to get you to your destination: Bus, taxi and even fly. If they can't provide a "Rail" service, they can't! I have never been left stranded by VIA.

> It is hardly a minor inconvenience to be rousted
> from my first-class sleeper to ride some
> disgusting bus for hours on end. It seems
> extraordinary to me that someone who purports to
> like riding trains would find that bus travel is
> an appropriate substitute for a train that has
> dining and sleeping car services. Some minor
> inconvenience. As far as obtaining a refund, in
> fact only part of your fare will be refunded
> according to Via's own formula. Hardly proper
> compensation.

Guess I'm just more accepting that operational difficulities do occure. Sure I would much prefer to be on the train but if the only way to get me to my destination is a bus, so be it!

Several years ago the Oceans were turned in Riviere du Loup and Rimouski and passengers bused between in the middle of the night. I received a late train credit, credit for the bus journey and full refund on the sleeper accommodations. Never had to ask (and wouldn't have asked for the sleeper refund as I had a fine sleep after the bus transfer at 2am!)

Wow!, if you think they are liars and cheats, just don't go. I wouldn't want to do business with someone I don't trust.

Bob

I have not heard of any service disruptions for VIA's Chaleur. However, I can't confirm that I've seen it at VIA Rail's Gaspe station as I don't live in Quebec. The Chaleur had a bridge washout in late summer, but the train - when operating - was turning at Matapedia (where it splits/combines from the Ocean). Also, if the Chaleur is running late, it may do a short turn at New Carlisle. But this is only when the train is running very late. Quebec had allocated money to have portions of the Chaleur's route upgraded to increase reliability and speed along the route, but again, I haven't heard of any disruptions like this.

To be honest, many VIA representatives are not well informed about the operation of the Chaleur, but the best may be to ask for recent arrival times of the Chaleur into Gaspe. As noted, you can still book a reservation via all train on VIA's web site. So I am not sure what is happening.

I do know that the Ocean/Chaleur may not operate around certain days of New Year's (i.e. Dec 31 or Jan 1 - not sure which one). This will likely affect the Ocean more than the tri-weekly Chaleur.

Again, I would call VIA and ask to speak with a manager the operation of the Chaleur.

And by the way - the Chaleur probably has the most dramatic coastal scenery along the East Coast. It's a spectacular route for travel. I can't wait till they start to upgrade this line better than at present. It could be "baby steps" of improvement.

Regrettably, none of these responses addresses the real issue. Will the Chaleur run the full distance from Montreal to Gaspe? I have friends who are booked on this train and they tell me that Via is being evasive about the true state of affairs on this line. Apparently the only accurate information is from a weekly Gaspe English language newspaper, The Spec, that has published reports that from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7 nothing will run east of New Carlisle. Via apparently is not telling passengers about this before they board the train. Notwithstanding the rather odd views of certain persons on this board that a bus is just as good as a train, I say it is an outrage to withhold such information to passengers,in fact it is essentially fraud to sell tickets to a place that will not have rail passenger service.

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Regrettably, none of these responses addresses the
> real issue. Will the Chaleur run the full distance
> from Montreal to Gaspe? ..........................
> ...........Notwithstanding the rather odd views of
> certain persons on this board that a bus is just
> as good as a train, I say it is an outrage to
> withhold such information to passengers,in fact it
> is essentially fraud to sell tickets to a place
> that will not have rail passenger service.

Did you not just call VIA yet? Why are you relying on friends and other second hand sources? I can’t see why VIA would withhold information from you. If you feel they are, and as I said previously, ask to speak to a supervisor, press the point of why you need to know and they will contact VIA Operations.

A bus is Not as good as a train (but certainly not disgusting as you say) VIA is looking after the needs of probably 99% of their passengers who just want to get to their destination...... Not a railfan out for a ride. And if there are operational difficulties and the bus is the only means to bridge a gap in the route, so be it! If a train can’t run over a section of track, it can’t!

Committing Fraud?? VIA has an obligation to get you to your destination and that’s what they are doing.

Why not just stay home until you are certain a train is running to Gaspe? And even then problems can happen to any train (or any means of travel) on any route at any time. But I certainly wouldn’t let that interfere with my anticipation of a trip....... just part of the adventure of travel so take it in stride!

PS: If you can’t fathom the bus over a portion of your journey, Air Canada Jazz operates a couple of Dash-8s daily into Gaspe from Montreal and Quebec City with connections from Toronto.

I did call Via this morning, and the person answering at first did not know the true state of affairs with the Chaleur. After checking he did acknowledge that indeed as of this date there is no train beyond New Carlisle, and the passengers will ride a bus the remaining distance. When I pointed our that it was disgraceful that Via would not inform its passengers on the website, he replied that he was just a Via foot soldier and had no idea what appeared (or not) on the Internet. He suggested that I complain to customer relations. I did write a very firmly worded e-mail to Via stating in no uncertain terms that Via's lack of information on the Internet was disgraceful. Since this is a Sunday, I doubt I will hear from them for a few days (if ever). I also added that anything they say to me will be widely disseminated. Should Via respond I will post it here. I would expect nothing more than the "party line" that everything is wonderful with Via and that they regret this and that etc. etc.

I would also add that the whole point of this posting is Via's lack of communication with the public on its website. I'm quite aware that incidents do occur on the railway that necessitate alternate transportation services. Just keep the public informed, not keep these disruptions a secret and continue to sell a product that Via knows is substantially different than what they advertise.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/08 06:57 by royaltrain.

royaltrain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> .......... I did write a very firmly worded e-mail
> to Via stating in no uncertain terms that Via's
> lack of information on the Internet was
> disgraceful. Since this is a Sunday, I doubt I
> will hear from them for a few days (if ever).

Maybe someone did read your e-mail and back-dated this news release. But it looks like it's been posted there since November 12th!

http://www.viarail.ca/cgi-bin/AffichageWebComm?Commande=select&langue=en&IDX=2&pk_webcomm=1240

Along with my family, I have sleeping car tickets for a trip to Gaspe with a same-day return in the near future. The original tickets were for an August trip (we were going to stay for two days) which had to be postponed due to a bridge wash-out. The second issue of said tickets for September were postponed because the bridge replacement that was supposed to take two weeks took seven weeks. Now it looks like the third attempt will have to be postponed as well. I realise none of this is VIA's fault. But I do wish they would be more up-front in advising their customers of these problems. Although VIA did provide considerable information during the major summer/autumn blockage, VIA agents have nothing in their computer about the current disruption. A few days ago my wife and I arrived in Vancouver after a delightful three-day trip on the Canadian. (The best part of the trip was that we weren't subjected to a bus ride at any point, but the food, service and time-keeping were excellent.) I spent some time discussing our intended Chaleur trip with a very friendly VIA agent at the Vancouver station. There was no warning in the computer that the line is partially blocked. The only information available referred to previous trips that were short-turned at New Carlisle.

We have "paid our dues" and been subjected to a lengthy (five hour) bus ride along part of the route of the Chaleur. I do not intend to repeat this experience any time soon. Despite what many Canadian railfans think about long bus trips, they are a thoroughly disgusting experience. Some of us are taller than four-feet-eight and therefore are in danger of much suffering. Then there is the nasty habit that some of us have of wanting bread and water to relieve the misery. I'm tempted to comment on the horrid outhouse in the back of the bus, but I won't. On some of my previous bustitutions VIA has provided sustenance, but on my winter Chaleur bus we were promised sandwiches and beverages and received nothing. Anyone taking the Chaleur should be warned that VIA loves to cancel it at New Carlisle and treat passengers to what they always refer to as "alternate transportation." The determining factor of the amount of time the Chaleur is late is not constant. But it doesn't have to be extremely late. On one trip two years ago we left Matapedia only an hour and a half late and there was still no word from the Operations Centre as to whether the passengers would be allowed to continue beyond New Carlisle in the accommodations for which we had paid. The service manager said we wouldn't know until New Carlisle. That time we made it to Gaspe and back on a train.

According to press reports, the residents of the Gaspe area were furious with VIA during yet another disruption of service in September. A derailment damaged a bridge just west of Matapedia. For a week, the Ocean was re-routed through Edmunston. But the Chaleur passengers were treated to an overnight bus ride of 1047 kilometres to and from Montreal. It was pointed out that the Chaleur could have run for most of the overnight portion of the trip, but VIA couldn't be bothered. This is hardly a "minor inconvenience" as some railfans would put it.

The recent problems are of course not VIA's fault. But when you combine the frequent problems with washouts, snow, leaves on the line (some bright bulb at VIA had the sanders de-activated on the F40s!) and VIA's frequent decision to short-turn the train solely because it is late, this lovely train is one of the most unreliable. VIA does not break down the losses on the Chaleur and the Ocean, but according to Vialogue the fares collected from the "Eastern services" amount to only 35% of the costs of running the two trains. We must hope that the millions of dollars for track improvements promised by both the federal and provincial governments will improve its reliability.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/08 06:28 by david.

ghCBNS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> royaltrain Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > .......... I did write a very firmly worded
> e-mail
> > to Via stating in no uncertain terms that Via's
> > lack of information on the Internet was
> > disgraceful. Since this is a Sunday, I doubt I
> > will hear from them for a few days (if ever).
>
> Maybe someone did read your e-mail and back-dated
> this news release. But it looks like it's been
> posted there since November 12th!
>
>I checked Via's website under the "News" tab and it wasn't there. I did check the Media tab a few days ago and the Nov 12th release wasn't there, however, today the 24th it is definitely there. Why is Via hiding this news release? Why don't they put it somewhere on its homepage, and why is there no reference to the short-turning of the train when one attempts to make a reservation? Generally speaking Via does a good job of running its trains, and advertising the services, but with The Chaleur they have certainly fallen down on the job.

Just a final note on this subject, Via Rail never bothered to respond to my e-mail.