MONTREAL — Despite speed restrictions abruptly imposed by host railroad Canadian National as a safety measure on Oct. 11, VIA Rail Canada is not adjusting schedules on trips involving Venture trainsets to reflect slower running times. Instead, passengers are being given a revised delay estimate.
And beginning the week of Nov. 4, the carrier is also adding a weekend Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City round trip and moving ahead with plans converting its daily Toronto-Sarnia, Ontario, service from LRC to Venture equipment.
Reduced speed limits only apply to the new trainsets [see “Venture slowdown limited …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 17, 2024]. The host railroad contends it has evidence that the Ventures don’t always shunt track circuits that trigger highway warning devices.
VIA spokesman Karl Helou tells News Wire, “There are no planned changes to equipment or schedules in response to CN’s grade crossing restrictions. However, the estimated delays for Corridor trains, posted on our website due to these restrictions, have been updated from 30 to 60 minutes to an average of 15 to 45 minutes, to more accurately reflect current operations since Oct. 11.”
Since VIA does not specify equipment it assigns, passengers unfamiliar with that operating aspect can’t always assume there will be speed-related delays. Trains out of Toronto serving Windsor, Ottawa, and Montreal have seen limited Venture deployment so far because maintenance facilities in the Ontario capital have not been completed. Tardy timekeeping is not exactly a rarity on those segments, though, because VIA’s older cars and locomotives may suffer breakdowns, and Metrolink doesn’t always give VIA preference over the more extensive Toronto commuter traffic its dispatchers handle.
A recent News Wire spot check of VIA corridor service confirmed that delays lasting more than a half hour regularly occur on the all-Venture Quebec City-Montreal segment. Nevertheless, VIA will be adding weekend morning departures from both Ottawa (train No. 624 at 7:45 a.m.) and Quebec (No. 637 leaving at 10:00 a.m.) starting Nov. 9 with similar scheduled running times as existing trains.
Additionally, Toronto-Sarnia trains No. 84 eastbound and No. 87 westbound will be converted to Venture trainsets beginning Nov. 4 on the same timings of the round trip that currently utilizes LRCs.
Restringing schedules is supposed to be a collaborative exercise between passenger operator and host railroad to give travelers the most reliable information. But it is a complicated process impacted by many factors in which the host holds all the cards. Any running time concessions VIA might make, if billed only as “temporary,” would require another negotiation to reverse in the future. So for now, passengers will have to build flexibility into their trips.
