Canadian Railroads > Canadian and Ocean cancellations extended

VIA Rail made the announcement today that DrawingroomA was predicting.  It sounds like there is no estimated date to resume operation.


https://media.viarail.ca/en/press-releases/2020/rail-postpones-service-resumption-canadian-and-ocean


September 25, 2020

VIA RAIL POSTPONES THE SERVICE RESUMPTION OF THE CANADIAN AND THE OCEAN
MONTRÉAL, September 25, 2020 – As COVID-19 cases are currently on the rise again and in an effort to continue to follow recommendations from public health authorities, VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) extends the suspension of its long-distance routes, the Canadian and the Ocean, as well as the Sleeper class on the Winnipeg-Churchill route, which were scheduled to resume on November 1.

"Please know that we will continue to closely monitor the spread of COVID-19 and remain in close contact with public health authorities as well as the federal and provincial governments. Our desire is to offer all of our services to Canadians as quickly as possible under optimal sanitary conditions,” said Cynthia Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Recent bulletins by authorities show that a second wave of the pandemic has begun in some regions of the country. The authorities indicate that this situation is worrisome as we are heading into autumn and winter, which are seasons presenting a high risk for respiratory diseases. Current sanitary conditions would thus not allow for a safe service offering, especially given the duration of these trips and the close proximity between employees and passengers.

Given the level of preparation that is needed to resume these services and because health and safety is our top priority, we made this decision to protect passengers, employees and local communities.

VIA Rail will continue to work on a safe resumption plan for its long-distance routes, which will take into account health and sanitary developments of the different provinces where they operate. These plans will be shared once they are finalized.

On services currently in operation, VIA Rail deploys a strict protocol of sanitary measures on board its trains, in its stations, maintenance centres and call centres in response to the pandemic and in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

They are looking for excuses to kill them, or make it a once a week excursion in the summer when the epidemic ends. 

The Ocean will not resume until the Quebec-New Brunswick border reopens and with Covid cases so low in the Maritimes.....most are in no rush to see that happen.

Posted from Android

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> They are looking for excuses to kill them, or make
> it a once a week excursion in the summer when the
> epidemic ends. 

Yup this whole thing is a hoax just so that VIA Rail Canada can cancel their long didtance trains.  Please give your head a shake!

Well that certainly sucks for my trips in the New Year !!! :(:(:( 
Oh well lets hope some of those drug companies develope a vaccine by next spring...:):):)

Have airports or highways been shut ? No. That is how most people travel, quarantines or not. These train "suspensions" are not doing much of anything at controlling the spread of the virus.

In NY/NJ/CT, there are 14 days quarantines from 35 other states, including other NEC states, that is updated every Tuesday. New Mexico has had 14 day quarantines. It does not mean Amtrak service, NEC or otherwise, is suspended, except in state-controlled corridors like Vermont or through the Adirondacks, which is another disgrace. There is I-87, I-91, and I-93.   



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/20 03:43 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Have airports or highways been shut ? No.
>
No....but entering the Atlantic Provinces by air or highway requires a 14 day isolation. I believe there are isolation requirements in Manitoba also.

4489 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They are looking for excuses to kill them, or
> make
> > it a once a week excursion in the summer when
> the
> > epidemic ends. 
>
> Yup this whole thing is a hoax just so that VIA
> Rail Canada can cancel their long didtance
> trains.  Please give your head a shake!


He seems to have confused Via with Amtrak.

I assume testing in Canada has increased dramatically as it has here since the early unknown days. So what did they think was going to happen? And as the economy continues to open and more and faster testing is available of course cases are going to go up. 

The hospitalizations will determine if it is just a rise in the metric or an actual increase in virus spread. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> The hospitalizations will determine if it is just
> a rise in the metric or an actual increase in
> virus spread. 

Are you a Doctor or any other medical professional?

Our "group" are disappointed that we won't be able to take our annual November trip, but this was expected and I understand VIA's position. Social distancing/physical distancing would be hard to maintain throughout the train for four days. The easy part is the private-room accommodation occupied by most sleeper passengers and the dining car, in the light off-peak season, should prove to be no more of a challenge than the non-rolling restaurants. Half or more of the dome seats can be blocked off. The "bullet lounge" in the Park car has only 11 seats so that would have to be reduced to about three and maybe two in the under-dome bar area.

As we know the corridors are narrow and most people don't want to spend all day in their cabins. By the fourth day there could be some passengers suffering "mask fatigue" which could be difficult to enforce. VIA is strict in the corridor and on my recent trips it appears not to be a problem. VIA says those who refuse to wear masks will be detrained, so the threat of spending three or four days in Malachi might solve the problem!

I am the only one in the group to have booked with Preference points. At the time I booked VIA was operating with a minimal staff with office hours only Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00. I could not get anyone to understand the concept of a "50% fewer points" coupon so I was overcharged by almost 5000 points for my cabin for 2. VIA staff at the call centres are usually very good, but I think the best ones stayed home under the furlough programme. I booked it anyway because I wanted to make sure I had "E" adjacent to my friend's "F" and planned on sorting it out later. 

David, thank you for your information.

Have you heard anything about VIA extending the VIA Preference coupons, which are due to expire April 30, 2021?  I likely won't be able to use them before then, at least the 50% off coupon number 2.  The points could be requested but that's not nearly as good a benefit as 50% off on the Canadian. 

Jim

Jimbo Wrote:
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> David, thank you for your information.
>
> Have you heard anything about VIA extending the
> VIA Preference coupons, which are due to expire
> April 30, 2021?  I likely won't be able to use
> them before then, at least the 50% off coupon
> number 2.  The points could be requested but
> that's not nearly as good a benefit as 50% off on
> the Canadian. 
>
> Jim

I can get no definite answer from anyone at VIA, but it is six months away so they have plenty of time to make a decision. You will recall that last year there was no extension of coupon validity. VIA did, however, recognise that with the winter disruptions it was not possible for everyone to take the trips they may have wanted to take. So there was no downgrading of membership levels due to failure to meet the spending requirements. .This was a relief to some of my friends who were unable to reach the $2000 spending required for the Premier level.

The disruptions for the current membership year (April to March) are far more severe, so I would hope VIA would extend the coupons as well as the membership levels.

DrawingroomA Wrote:
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>
> The disruptions for the current membership year
> (April to March) are far more severe, so I would
> hope VIA would extend the coupons as well as the
> membership levels.

If things get under control by March.....I think I'm going to have a pent-up desire to get on the Ocean and Canadian so my coupons might disappear pretty fast!

ghCBNS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DrawingroomA Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > The disruptions for the current membership year
> > (April to March) are far more severe, so I
> would
> > hope VIA would extend the coupons as well as
> the
> > membership levels.
>
> If things get under control by March.....I think
> I'm going to have a pent-up desire to get on the
> Ocean and Canadian so my coupons might disappear
> pretty fast!

Although there was a good reason for this, VIA has caused some confusion with members. Coupons are valid one month later than the membership year i.e. from the beginning of May to the end of April.