“Standing still,” leads off by focusing on how the Canadian’s unreliability has adversely affected Namaygoosisagagun First Nation residents at the otherwise isolated community of Collins, Ontario, causing them to miss medical appointments when the train is hours late.
The report then dissects delays and aspects of Canadian transport policy which tip the scales to grain customers while leaving VIA and its human cargo powerless to challenge CN’s operating practices. It also graphically details how the train’s schedule lengthening has done little to improve punctuality.
- “About Standing Still” describes the impetus for the project and how students exhaustively compiled the data
- “Beautiful views-unreliable schedule” interviews passengers who were affected by long Canadian delays in 2018
- “From jewel to afterthought” chronicles how government policy pushed passenger service into a steep decline
- “Fixing passenger rail” offers potential solutions from observers such as Nova Scotia resident and former Amtrak president David Gunn, who believes the Canadian’s twice-weekly operation this summer is “a disaster” because “it becomes irrelevant to the railroad.”
Fred Vallance-Jones, an associate professor in the college’s journlism school who helped lead the project with multimedia assistant Jeff Harper, tells Trains News Wire that 11 students worked on the project.
“We did phone interviews (though CN and VIA chose to provide written statements), read a ton of documents, and analyzed the on-time data, (whose analysis) the class worked on together,” says Vallance-Jones. “We didn’t ride the Canadian ourselves, but spoke to many people who did.”
The “Standing Still” report contains a number of interactive maps, one of them detailing a Vancouver to Toronto trip by one couple showing how late train No. 2 became at each point where it was delayed along the route.
Canada, as in its government, is not going to do much or anything to improve that train or its performance. It lacks funding for other things, such as defense, and maintaining highways to first-world standards. (As member of NATO, Canada has signed on to a “goal” of spending 2% of its GDP. It now spends half that, and has just about half of the forces it knows it needs.) Howcum? Along with the combined provincial and national goods and services tax–which runs 14% and up–it still cannot fund most things adequately. When asked about that shortfall, the usual answer is that “we have to fund our healthcare somehow.”
As to the schedule it cannot keep, the Canadian requires four days to travel from Toronto to Vancouver. The four day schedule is absurd, yet passengers subject themselves to being confined to the train for that long, and pay dearly to do it. If Canada wants to get serious about transcontinental train travel, it will need to revise the route, insure that the host railroad(s) give it priority, get new equipment, and come up with a serious schedule that can be and is kept. What are the chances of that?
Eliot Haycock, how can you call it a “regularly scheduled train” if its time of arrival at its destination is completely unpredictable? And when were the “many times” that you rode it? I rode the real (CPR) Canadian many times and I loved it, but once (in 2006) was enough for the present version. The scenery is boring, except west of Jasper, the rolling stock looks old and shabby, and the service is no better than Amtrak. Also the timekeeping problem, as you call it, is much worse today than it was in 2006.
Gerhard, you just pointed up a problem that occurs with daily or less than daily trains in America and Canada. You said your late Lakeshore was delayed further in getting a platform at Chicago and two other trains were being held for connections. I just returned from Spain. I missed an 11 a.m. train from Madrid to Seville, but was able to catch a 12 noon train. Trains in Spain run on-time. If American trains ran frequently enough and on schedule, they wouldn’t have platform problems or need train holds for connecting passengers.
Yes Mr. Donald Haines that`s how Canada is in that consequence. In my yesterday`s comment on where I used to live in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I recently drove up there from a populated center in eastern Canada to realized that their main Trans-Canada Highway 17 traffic has declined drastically. It is a remote two to three-lane highway as well with Highway 11 further north. It seems people are not traveling as much as they used to me. Maybe its because travelers prefer to fly, spending more time activities such as computer use, etc and gasoline prices in Canada are now approaching equivalent to expensive European prices with longer distances to travel here. Its probably why no wonder even long-distance train travel needs any upgrading ever again with further lack of travel demand..
Disregard the unfortunate timekeeping problem and what you have is the best regularly scheduled passenger train in North America! I know. I have ridden it many times!
Anna Harding is absolutely right. The so-called Canadian as it is now is a disgrace to Canada, and as a Canadian who loves train travel (if it is done properly) I am saddened and ashamed. I remember the real Canadian as CPR operated it in the old days(72 hours from Montreal to Vancouver or 68 hours from Toronto, always on time, and of course it ran every day of the year) That service ended because a stupid cabinet minister from Calgary (who is now deceased) told the then prime minister (Mulroney) that he didn’t care if he never saw a passenger train again. Mulroney didn’t care either so that was the end of the service. CPR should have copyrighted the name The Canadian to prevent Via Rail from using it for a train that ran over a completely different route and on a much slower schedule, even when on time. The present train may attract some gullible tourists (mainly Americans, Brits, and Germans) to venture over the whole route, and of course Via Rail downplays the fact that it is a completely different route from the original. It is kept because it serves some indigenous communities in northern Ontario that have no highway access. Building a highway for them and running a bus would be cheaper in the long run and more practical than running the train, which should be put out of its misery. The part of its route from Vancouver to Jasper is served by Rocky Mountaineer, which provides a much better experience for tourists than Via.
Ms. Harding – as much as I appreciate your contributions, I can’t help but wonder whether the Lake Shore is a viable alternative. A sample of one isn’t indicative, but I took the Lake Shore from Springfield, Mass to Chicago (and then Kansas City) some time ago. The Boston section arrived in Albany three hours late (no explanation), and the New York City section was about 5 hours late due to signalling problems. When we arrived in Chicago, we had to wait another forty minutes to get a platform (they were holding two connecting trains). On my return from Kansas City, that train was an hour late, and the Lake Shore another hour beyond that; worse yet, our car didn’t have a working toilet!
In Thunder Bay, Ontario where I once lived and worked there it used to be cheaper to take the once daily train (formerly CP Rail then VIA Rail) and Greyhound Bus. Now those two services do not serve Thunder Bay anymore . Flying used to be be more expensive. But now that`s the only way to reach there if you do not have a vehicle. The nearest access to the Canadian is over two hours north at Armstrong, Ontario, It is now not worth the effort to drive to reach this community served only twice a week from this train running frequently endless hours behind time and much more expensive than to fly. I now begin to wonder if the Canadian is worth keeping as an expensive and “useless” train. since out-of-town surface transportation services is rapidly declining throughout Canada.
It seems everyone on this comment section tends to make their comment & move on only Mr. Landey & Mr. McGuire seem to have to do a rebuttal to every comment. What’s up with that?
MICHAEL and ROBERT – If one scrapes up every state, federal and local tax subsidy to the various modes (bus, transit, suburban rail, inland barges, recreational pleasure boats, aviation, etc.) then do the same for Amtrak.
In rough terms, the annual Congressional subsidy to each Amtrak ticket is about seventy dollars; in other words about equal in very rough terms to the average ticket revenue.
That’s just one of the tax subsidies. There’s the local share to many Amtrak routes. To that add that station facilities in many cases are locally paid for.
In my area, MKE General Mitchell International Airport is owned by Milwaukee County and as far as is known is self supporting by ticket revenue, parking and concessions. The three local train stations Milwaukee downtown, Milwaukee Airport, and Sturtevant, were all built with state transportation funds.
Charles,
Can’t argue with the economics. I will say it’s a ride worth taking as many times as possible before it’s gone.
MICHAEL SHORE – VIA’s routes on CP Rail all but disappeared quite some time ago, as VIA reverted to how it started – a rebranding of CN’s passenger trains. CN wanted passenger trains, back then, while CP did not.
Now the shoe is on neither foot. Neither railroad wants passenger trains that despite their massive tax subsidies can’t or won’t pay for the track space they take up.
USA is next. If passenger trains can’t narrow their deficit while simultaneously increasing payment to the owners of the track, they’re gone. And yes, other forms of subsidized transportation (inland barges, esseential air service, etc.) need to start paying their own way or be eliminated.
Next we have to look at the lift bridges over naviagable waterways. Who pays for those?
And again I ask the question – can not the Canadian be moved to the CPR? Less freight traffic, more revenue generating cities enroute and much better scenery.
JOE You post “…. we are rail fans, are we not?” So you agree with the critics of subsidized passenger rail who claim that it’s a tax subsidy for the railfan hobby of people above average income.
Yeah I’m a railfan as much as anyone else who posts here. The purpose of tax subsidized passenger rail is to provide reliable and affordable transportation.
I rode the Canadian round trip last November. It was in a word: spectacular . This assumes a love for Budd built
streamliners that act like it’s 1956 and all is well in the railroad world. Domes are clean, service is far beyond anything Amtrak has ever done. It was late into Vancouver and early into Toronto. I was hoping to be late there too, more time in the dome. It is pricey but so is Amtrak , check out a bedroom on the CZ……..
Canadian exchange helps too, We all know you can fly cheaper but we are railfans, are we not?
Mr. Lampman please cite your references to prove your assertions. I think if you take everything into account you may find that the airline passengers are not subsidized to the extent that you would like. Remember that the airlines are profitable and pay income taxes which neither Amtrak nor VIA do.
Charles,
Don’t forget your ticket on Delta is subsidized by the taxpayers. Delta and all other airlines combined do not completely pay for the runways they use or the air traffic control that makes it all possible. Yes, there are taxes on the tickets to directly support those things via the Aviation Trust, but if falls way short.
Charles, you left out interstate, state and local roads and highways as needing to pay their way. Why should any form of transportation get a pass go economic sustainable
Ms Harding, what I could not understand is why there is just one Auto-Train route. I would have thought it might be a way to provide more services.
I rode the Canadian from Winnipeg to Toronto (connecting to the Windsor train) decades ago when it was real transportation – ran daily, ran on time, for affordable fares.
This had nothing to do with scenery, with cruise train riding, with sightseeing, it was part of my way home from Winnipeg to Detroit. I didn’t even notice it was all that spectacular a train, it got my where I was going, which is what I wanted it to do.
Now if I wanted to get from Winnipeg to Detroit I’d book Delta Airlines. No way would I ride the developed world’s worst passenger railroad.
Anna,
It’s not being marketed as a viable transportation alternative, it’s being marketed for what it is…a land cruise, that offers exceptional on-board service and beautiful scenery. Fortunately I had the chance to ride from Vancouver to Toronto and back(with several side trips to Niagara Falls, Detroit(my parents had a friend that lived Dearborn…a drive between Banff and Jasper) as my graduation present from high school way back in 1981. We managed to take both trains…and even back then CN had trouble with time keeping, putting the Super Continental through Thompson Canyon during daylight, instead of in the dark as was normal back then.
VIA Rail service is so disgusting that in order to get from Vancouver to Toronto I would drop south, pick up the Empire Builder, then deal with the Lakeshore. Even with an overnight in Buffalo (before picking up the Maple Leaf), or taking a taxi to the border to grab the Niagara Falls GO train, it is faster and certainly far cheaper.
The service is way overpriced, unreliable, and slow. The scenery, while admittedly spectacular, is just not worth the cost. I don’t know who they are marketing it to – one time tourists, perhaps, but not to someone who needs a viable transportation system.
In the day I could drive – by myself – the TCH faster than the train would get me there. And for a lot cheaper. And have a car at the other end – always a plus. I know because I have done it.
If they really wish to sell VIA Rail as a viable service they desperately need to look at their market, and what they are offering. It isn’t just tourists who would like to ride this train.
Is anyone (associated with VIA Rail) listening? Do they even care? I didn’t think so.
The above comments are generic in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn disgruntled patron.