Canadian Railroads > Timekeeping on the Canadian

Right now I'm on Via train 2, sitting at Wainwright, five hours late and getting later. I know the derailment at Yale caused us some delay, but I'm appalled at how CN just parks us on a siding for an hour or so to let two or more giant westbounds go by us. This is as bad as the SP in the '70s. Horrible treatment of a passenger train.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/16 07:11 by stevedavis.

Be nice if the new PM could get VIA Rail legislated through Parliament, and have some rights and powers like Amtrak.
But he seems only obsessed in a new ROW for the MTL-TOR corridor, and regards everything beyond as novelty transportation. 

When we rode #2 the first week in August we were 3 hours down at one point but were  ultimately 1 and a 1/2 hour late into Toronto.
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be nice if the new PM could get VIA Rail
> legislated through Parliament, and have some
> rights and powers like Amtrak.
> But he seems only obsessed in a new ROW for the
> MTL-TOR corridor, and regards everything beyond as
> novelty transportation. 

It is novelty transportation.  If it was essential transportation, people would complain about it, and something would get done.  Failure to complain and/or for the problem to be noticed tends to prove the point that it is novelty transportation.  Honestly: how can a two-day-a-week train be viewed as anything but an unusual anomoly, i.e. a novelty?

They complained about pulling off all the Halifax locals, even burned Lucin Pepin in effigy. It meant nothing. Parliament has no jurisdiction. Canada is not the same type of Democracy that we are.

Tell the people in the coaches or sections going from Sudbury Junction to some flag stop in northern Ontario that it's novelty transportation. The coaches are normally quite full and I doubt they are doing it for the speed and comfort.  I'm actually using it to get from point A (Edmonton) to point B (Toronto) in March for a specific reason. Not just a joy ride. Look at the schedule from back in the early '90's compared with today. So much padding and they still frequently don't make the schedule, all thanks to CN.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be nice if the new PM could get VIA Rail
> legislated through Parliament, and have some
> rights and powers like Amtrak.
> But he seems only obsessed in a new ROW for the
> MTL-TOR corridor, and regards everything beyond as
> novelty transportation. 

I am impressed that you so much about the inner workings and thoughts about our Prime Minister.  How do you get this insider information?

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They complained about pulling off all the Halifax
> locals, even burned Lucin Pepin in effigy.


joemvcnj.....you really don't know anything about the Canadian Government.......and it was Benoit Bouchard not Jean Luc Pepin who was responsible for the VIA (& Halifax local) cuts in 1990.


> Parliament has no jurisdiction.
> Canada is not the same type of Democracy that we
> are.


I think I'll take our Parliamentary Democracy and healthcare any day over that gong show I see playing out south of the border right now!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/16 13:42 by ghCBNS.

ghCBNS Wrote:

>
>
> I think I'll take our Parliamentary Democracy and
> healthcare any day over that gong show I see
> playing out south of the border right now!

I'm right there with you!

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

Lucin Pepin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_P%C3%A9pin

"After a seven-year absence, Pepin returned to the House of Commons in the 1979 election. When the Liberals returned to power after the 1980 election, he became Minister of Transport until 12 August 1983. In that position he was responsible for

• the drastic 1981 passenger rail service cuts (from which Canadian passenger rail never recovered);

< I am impressed that you so much about the inner workings and thoughts about our Prime Minister.  How do you get this insider information?>

Do I see a VIA Rail passenger act going anywhere , No.
Do I see VIA's subsidy increased over Harper's beyond the Corridor, No.
Does Parliament have jurisdiction over VIA Rail, No
Does  VIA Rail serve at the discretion of the PM, Yes.

(We are not talking about health insurance here).

SEVERE CUTS IN RAIL SERVICE ANGER CANADIANS

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/22/world/severe-cuts-in-rail-service-anger-canadians.html
"prompting a nationwide storm of protest, many lawsuits and a two-day physical blockade of at least one train. "
"The divisive service cuts were ordered by Jean-Luc Pepin, the Transport Minister," 
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/16 14:36 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lucin Pepin:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_P%C3%A9pin
>
> "After a seven-year absence, Pepin returned to the
> House of Commons in the 1979 election. When the
> Liberals returned to power after the 1980
> election, he became Minister of Transport until 12
> August 1983. In that position he was responsible
> for the drastic 1981 passenger rail service cuts (from which Canadian passenger rail never recovered);


I'm well aware of the VIA cuts of 1981 and the Transport Minister then was Jean-Luc Pepin not Lucien as you noted.....but you were talking about the “Halifax Local” cuts which occurred in January 1990 under Transport Minister Benoit Bouchard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/16 14:44 by ghCBNS.

Ok, two separate attacks on the system. I didn't mean to conflate the two, even though they were in the same sentence.

I am not being anti-Canada; I am being pro-branch government.

We have the same exact issue with NJ Transit, despite the existence of a Legislature of a different party. The State DOT Commissioner is by definition the NJT Board Chairman, who management answers to. So there is nothing the Legislature can do but summons them to hearings for theatre. It matters now, because as far as public transit capital and operations goes, the Governor is a jerk, and NJT is ailing as a result now with a terrible safety record and culture, and frequent service failures. . 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/16 15:51 by joemvcnj.

Train number 2 continues to get screwed by CN. We're 11 miles west of Melville and have been sitting for over an hour for two westward freights. This is, by my count, the sixth time we have waited over an hour for opposing traffic since we left Vancouver. Now looking at a 200am arrival in Winnipeg. Shameful.

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Train number 2 continues to get screwed by CN. We're 11 miles west of Melville and have been sitting for over an hour for two westward freights. This is, by my count, the sixth time we have waited over an hour for opposing traffic since we left Vancouver. Now looking at a 200am arrival in Winnipeg. Shameful.

Posted from iPhone

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be nice if the new PM could get VIA Rail
> legislated through Parliament, and have some
> rights and powers like Amtrak.
> But he seems only obsessed in a new ROW for the
> MTL-TOR corridor, and regards everything beyond as
> novelty transportation. 

It is not the prime minister who is pushing for the dedicated ROW in the corridor.  That's being done by VIA's relatively new CEO, who was an appointee of the previous Conservative government. Whether he gets any support for that from the new government remains to be seen.

David Gunn has publicly criticized the idea of getting a new ROW, actually an abandoned ROW, for a rerouted corridor. I don't know which side of the partisan fence he is on. He also didn't like the idea of putting a Toronto LRT into a subway. I don't know which line he was talking about.

stevedavis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Train number 2 continues to get screwed by CN.
> We're 11 miles west of Melville and have been
> sitting for over an hour for two westward
> freights. This is, by my count, the sixth time we
> have waited over an hour for opposing traffic
> since we left Vancouver. Now looking at a 200am
> arrival in Winnipeg. Shameful.
>
> Posted from iPhone

i am curious.  are there trains parked in most of the sidings you are passing?

66

CN screws Amtrak on the Chicago - Carbondale corridor in Illinois.  Until the FRA or STB fine CN BIG some money for each occurrence, nothing will change.

goneon66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> stevedavis Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Train number 2 continues to get screwed by CN.
> > We're 11 miles west of Melville and have been
> > sitting for over an hour for two westward
> > freights. This is, by my count, the sixth time
> we
> > have waited over an hour for opposing traffic
> > since we left Vancouver. Now looking at a 200am
> > arrival in Winnipeg. Shameful.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> i am curious.  are there trains parked in most of
> the sidings you are passing?
>
> 66

If those freights were both "non-clearing" trains due to their length then leaving you guys in the siding was the smart thing to do.
 

Yes, many sidings have parked trains. No easts have overtaken us; all our meets are with wests, most of which are probably 10,000 ft or more. It's taken us four hours to go 20 miles. Now predicting 300am in Winnipeg. More than six hours late. Crazy.

Posted from iPhone