Isn’t it a lack of rails that’s the problem, not a lack of rail cars? Passenger trains have to give way to cargo trains, and dedicated tracks are the solution.
Ideally this is just one of several rail related initiatives and we have more announcements coming.
Hopefully we’ll start prioritizing Passenger Cars over freight like the rest of the world
We will be building a new high speed rail from Quebec to Toronto so passenger rail will finally be separate from freight rail. Finally drag our asses out of the 1800’s.
The amount of money planned for that could probably cover twinning a much larger amount of existing track, with less environmental impact.
Why just twin the line and still have something designed in the 1800’s. Canadians are so damn cheap to do anything properly.
Canada could also benefit from a shinkansen line or two. With population centers mostly along a straight line in the south, it would allow for rapid transit between major cities on dedicated passenger rail.
We can all enjoy the new cars whilst sitting waiting for another train to pass.
Freight right-of-way ownership is also a problem, but the car set they are replacing/adding to is 75+ years old, they are sturdy and reliable, but having more cars means that they could increase service beyond 3 trips a week on these routes. At the moment, occasional breakdowns and maintenance periods mean they face long distance equipment shortages sometimes.
Isn’t it a lack of rails that’s the problem, not a lack of rail cars?
Thats one issue. This announcement addresses a different issue.
The current VIA long-haul fleet is 70 year old equipment. It’s getting increasingly expensive to maintain, and if it isn’t replaced it will become almost impossible to keep them safely operating.
For anyone interested, this video give a good overview of some of the issues.
it’s both.
Via is a shit service. yes, please charge me $200 for a 10 hour trip during which I will be knocking knees and playing footsie with the person across from me, with less space than an airplane seat has. I can’t wait for the privilege
nah dude I’ll just drive for the same cost, less time, more flexibility, and more cargo capacity
That description fits perfectly on the Deutsche Bahn as well lol
Restore the glory days of Via Rail. We need to save resources when the American embargo hits.
Oh what I’d do to have a nice and efficient train from Montreal to Vancouver. I’d take it instead of the plane for sure!
Unfortunately the fastest passenger train currently available on the planet would still take roughly 6 hours to get from Montreal to Vancouver in basically a straight line so probably double or even triple that for a more realistic number with all the corners and ups and downs. We probably won’t be making the fastest train on earth so it would likely still be a 20+ ride from Montreal to Vancouver in the best case scenario.
It would be a very comfortable ride though. It’s already more comforable than airplanes, and I was stuck behind freight trains most of the way.
I don’t mind if it takes the same amount of time as it does now. I just want it updated and I want a line where I don’t have to change trains in Toronto.
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Via did add new rail cars on Montreal Toronto route about 2-3 years ago. Lighting is ridiculously bright and can’t be turned down. No obvious improvements.
I hope the service improves along with the new hardware. I took a VIA rail train from Manitoba to Saskatchewan for what I wanted to be a day or two. I had to be in Saskatchewan for over 6 days just to get a VIA rail train back to Manitoba. When I was a lad in the 70’s they used to run daily. It should be a service, just like the post office. Not yet another profit center. We have to stop thinking like american businessmen. Besides all that though…Go Canada!
Where are these cars going to be used? Ontario and Quebec only?
Half of the country lives in a straight line between windsor and quebec city, so it would be a great start to improve rail there first (even if it feels unfair to the rest of the country)…
Even just toronto to montreal would be a great place to start in terms of bringing canada in line with other developed nations
Yeah, yeah. Ontario first and everywhere else, never.
