InfrastructureEnthusiast
Active Member
This is a bit surprising to me. Is VIA branding actually seen as desirable, or was it a condition of getting cash / cooperation from the feds?
|
|
|
Calgary Regional Rail Transit
- Thread starter Oddball
- Start date
This is a bit surprising to me. Is VIA branding actually seen as desirable, or was it a condition of getting cash / cooperation from the feds?
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
The HSR in the east is a federal project.
I'm sure VIA has a bad reputation but they're the federal rail brand so they get their name on the trains.
YYCguy
Active Member
I think I’ve missed something here, and scrolled back a few pages to try to find what I missed, but can’t seem to. In regards to the Regional Train (Banff/Calgary/Calgary/Edmonton) system being branded as VIA. Was this in a provincial report that was released recently? What else did I miss in this regards?
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
Nothing is new on the Alberta regional rail. I posted a story about the HSR in Eastern Canada that highlighted their process as something interesting.
InfrastructureEnthusiast
Active Member
Gotcha, I'd missed the reference to the corridor project. Yeah VIA branding makes sense there, even if they don't have a reputation for being all that modern.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Their new fleet of trains - the first commissioned in 2024 - are quite modern. So my response to the perception that Via isn't modern is... there's only one way to get there (by modernizing). I know they've had some issues, but I've personally never had a bad experience with them and I've traveled with them at least a hundred times in my life so far.
InfrastructureEnthusiast
Active Member
Well you'd know better than me then.
I've only taken VIA once, from Vancouver to Edmonton, and the train stalled out so much I though we were going to have to get out and push the damn thing!
Fortunately it was a free ticket, so I found it more amusing than annoying, but it sure put me off ever traveling with them again...
Glad to hear they're improving though!
VIA is a whole different thing in southern Ontario and Quebec. So much nicer than Amtrak in NY state, for example - working toilets, better concessions, faster speeds, and not having to pull over for freight trains constantly.
It's easy for me to forget that VIA operates west of Winnipeg.
It's easy for me to forget that VIA operates west of Winnipeg.
trtcttc
Senior Member
Branding wise, they should probably differentiate the service from Windsor to Quebec City from the rest of VIA Rail, like an Acela or North East Corridor. They seem to call it the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor but that's a mouthful.
ctraindude
New Member
The problem with VIA is that they have virtually none of their own track. They’re constantly waiting for freight traffic to go by on sidings. It’s hard to keep a schedule when you’re always forced to wait while the owners of the track have priority.
darwink
Senior Member
Yeah. The HFR project aims to start to fix this in a huge way.
lemongrab
Active Member
Did we know this already? [Redacted] funding already allocated and 'early work' has started? Given the redacted figure, I'm thinking this hasn't actually been announced?
darwink
Senior Member
Yes. It is Blue Line to 88th. “On February 29, 2024, the Government of Alberta announced an allocation of $43.3 million over three years”.
YYCguy
Active Member
I see that the Blue Line isn’t going to be extended to the airport. How will customers get from 88th to the airport to catch the passenger rail?
darwink
Senior Member
Eventually an automated people mover.