With CN rerouting many trains though the U.S. during the work stoppage, the Canadian paused for three-and-a-half hours at CN division headquarters and VIA crew change point of Hornepayne, Ont., and stopped at 14 other remote locations between Toronto and Winnipeg from 15 minutes to an hour-and-a-half.
If no passengers are set to board at any of the 65 intermediate stations listed between Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia, the train can leave early. It departed almost two hours early from Foleyet, Ont., east of Hornepayne on Sunday evening.
Expedited handling beyond Winnipeg continued on Nov. 26, with westbound train No. 1 getting into Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one hour and 20 minutes early after leaving Winnipeg an hour late the previous evening. Meanwhile, eastbound train No. 2 set to arrive into Toronto today waited three hours for its scheduled departure time overnight at both Hornepayne and Capreol, Ont.
When Canadian National and VIA Rail Canada implemented a lengthened schedule for the Toronto-Vancouver, B.C., Canadian in April 2019, the goal was to ensure its passengers would traverse the Canadian Rockies in daylight despite delays inflicted by prioritized freight train movements on its transcontinental trek.
Trains News Wire’s analysis of every departure since then reveals that the effort has been successful, even though the train’s reliability and usefulness at intermediate stops as dependable transportation has been greatly diminished.
VIA said last month that it will continue to offer only two weekly cross-country trips and one weekly round-trip between Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta, next May through October on the existing schedule after previously announcing tri-weekly service would be restored in 2020.
Even before the CN strike, train No. 1 has consistently pulled into Vancouver much earlier than the scheduled 8 a.m. arrival, with 48% arriving between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. since May 1. A VIA source tells Trains News Wire that no one is allowed to get off the train until 6:30 a.m., but Sleeper Plus and Prestige class passengers are offered a continental breakfast and may stay aboard until 8 a.m.
OH BOY !
VIA could use the services of HUNTER to do a much needed housecleaning of people who have little or no knowledge of how to run a passenger train
VIA at present is doing a great job of turning the travelling public away from NORTH AMERICAN passenger trains.IS THERE ANOTHER hunter somewhere ?? Please come forward NOW.
OH BOY ! VIA
With CPR being Amtrak’s best Class One (re: timekeeping) perhaps Calgary is friendlier to passenger traffic than Montreal, and trains 1 and 2 should be returned to the route of the Beaver.
Rode the Canadian this past summer from Edmonton to Vancouver in a roomette. Wonderful experience: Great food, prepared fresh onboard, the glamor of the Park cars, watching the signals change from green to red from a dome at night, the ubiquitous friendliness of the train’s staff, the magnificent scenery, made all the better by a rainstorm that only highlighted the coziness of the 50s’ built Budd cars. For those of us who still remember the halcyon days of the Super Chief, the Cal Zephyr, and the UP “Cities” trains, truly a deja vu experience. I’d do it again in a minute if given the opportunity. Even with all of its timekeeping problems and its admittedly high fares, this train is a treasure, a rolling museum on wheels, that is a tribute both to Canada and to VIA. Long may it continue!
I Think that “The Canadian” is not a fraud. But if you are taking it to get to your daughter’s wedding in Vancouver you better be careful. The Canadian is fine for those that are not on a schedule or have to be somewhere at a particular time. That is also true of Amtrak outside the NEC. If you re just out for a train ride and can afford it then ride the Canadian but if I need to be on the west coast of Canada on, or nearly on time, save yourself the aggravation and money and fly.
Mr Landey, and if you want to go to Wainwright , Alberta? Or any other off the beaten path locations? (Like Hope, Arkansas that no longer has Greyhound)
Mark Vinski: They keep the passengers on board because the station isn’t open yet! Its a terminal station which you need to pass through to exit. Since this train is mostly a “land cruise”, there is no need for the vacationing passengers to be out and about in the city at 6 AM. My wife and I quite enjoyed our leisurely breakfast before detraining about 8 AM.
GALEN – “Not everyone is in a big a RUSH as you are Mr. Landey!” Fine. I’ve ridden the Canadian, as I posted below. If it ran daily, on a reasonable schedule, and on time I’d ride it again.
I’ve also ridden if you put all my train rides together they would reach from Boston and St John and Montreal on the northeast, to Alexandria on the southeast, to Los Angeles and Lamy (New Mexico), San Francisco, Oakland and Winnipeg (as I mentioned) and San Jose and Sacramento on the west, and everywhere in between so yes I’m not always in a hurry.
Now if you could tell me how to get on my frequent commute to a major city served by airlines from all over the world but 200 miles from the nearest Amtrak stop ….. If I rode Amtrak not only would it consume far too much time but I’d never even get close.
Mark — If I got into a city, any city, at 6AM I would HATE to be forced off the train into a totally closed city. No restaurants open, no stores open, nothing is open at 6AM. What do you do? Drag your suitcases around the sidewalks for 3 hours? Total insanity. I’d stay on the train and get more sleep, then get a nice breakfast.
Not everyone is in as big a RUSH as you are Mr. Landey!
IAN – I get your point. For every small town in Canada that has VIA, a whole lot don’t. For every small town in America that has Amtrak, most don’t. And no law says that where there is Amtrak, it goes where the person wants to go.
I have taken Amtrak from Milwaukee to Centralia, to Carbondale, to Galesburg, to Bloomington-Normal, and to Kankakee. I have also looked up the schedule to Springfield (Illinois) but in the end scratched the trip. Sometimes the train makes sense and some smaller cities are served by Amtrak if the person is going to/from or through the Chicago hub.
Roger – So noted. The Canadian is a fine train but it’s not a real train. A real train runs daily, runs on time, and runs on a decent schedule. Fine china, great scenery, dome cars, all that’s wonderful but doesn’t come close to making up for twice weekly schedule, horribly padded, and running late no matter how much the schedule is stretched out.
Next time I go to Winnipeg, it will be on Air Canada.
Charles, I don’t believe that a fine train with immaculately restored Budd domes and fine dining in the dining car that showcases the Canadian Rockies, in any way could be called a fraud. Those lucky souls that get to experience this kind of splendor are totally aware of the time that it takes The Canadian to cross Canada. This exquisite train is still a Canadian treasure and should be thought of as a symbol of pride in Canada as well as the rest of the continent in that it is carrying on fine passenger train traditions, that sadly have been lost on most passenger trains south of the Canadian border.
AL DiCENSO. I have told Fred that. In his recent blog announcing his retirement, mine was one of the first comments. I posted how much I admired Fred and how much I’d miss his work, with one exception. I was tired of his rides on the VIA RAIL “Canook”.
September of 1982, I rode the real Canadian as a part of a ride home from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Detroit, Michigan. Has zero to do with today’s fake Canook that burns up diesel fuel going nowhere at outrageous fare.
What right does VIA have to imprison passengers on the train after an early arrival?
Don’t tell Fred that!
In plain English the Canadian is a fraud. No sane person would ride it if given any other alternative.
If you need to get somewhere in Canada, then fly.