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Discussion of Canadian Passenger Rail Services such as AMT (Montreal), Go Transit (Toronto), VIA Rail, and other Canadian Railways and Transit

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 #1320742  by briann
 
I just received a news email from VIA concerning the cancellation of Tuesday's (9th March) Canadian between Toronto and Winnipeg. What surprised me about the message was that VIA is offering no alternative arrangements for passengers affected. I thought it was normal practice for VIA to fly passengers whose plans have been disrupted. Am I wrong, or is this now standard practice?
 #1320961  by chriskay
 
This is odd - I know of once a couple of years back where my partner was on travelling from Toronto to Edmonton, and due to a derailment in SK they were flown from Winnipeg to their destinations.

You'd think VIA wouldn't care anyway since they can probably get compensation from the railway.
 #1325199  by briann
 
...and service is now being restored:

(Information courtesy of VIA Rail)

TORONTO, April 8, 2015 – VIA Rail Canada announces that as of April 10, passenger rail service between Toronto and Winnipeg will resume.

1. The next westbound departure out of Toronto (Train #1) will be on Saturday, April 11 at 10 p.m. The train will arrive in Winnipeg on Monday, April 13 and in Vancouver on Wednesday, April 15.

2. Passengers booked on the eastbound Canadian departing Vancouver (Train #2) on Friday, April 10 will arrive in Winnipeg on Sunday, April 12 and in Toronto on Tuesday, April 14.
 #1326500  by MikeCDN
 
Still to this day I cannot understand why Via has not campaigned to get back onto the CP routing through Ontario - instead of its current / useless one.

Why are communities along the shores of Lake Superior not lobbying for this?

Via would see an increase in ridership and could use the RDCs for the north line on CN. This would translate into better passenger revenues.

My thoughts - Please discuss, rebut or move this forward.

M.
 #1338016  by bdawe
 
If you have the white river RDC coming through your town, why on earth would you lobby for the presumably slower and less reliable Canadian to take over service? Is there really that burning a demand to go to Winnipeg two days a week?
 #1338018  by MikeCDN
 
bdawe wrote:If you have the white river RDC coming through your town, why on earth would you lobby for the presumably slower and less reliable Canadian to take over service? Is there really that burning a demand to go to Winnipeg two days a week?
No. However, there's is a larger demand to go to Thunder Bay with their population increasing. Downtown Toronto to downtown Sudbury Service. And, a slew of other small tourist industries along the shorelines of Lake Superior accessible from Canada's largest market - Toronto.

Furthermore, that " other " railway they'd be running on has better on time performance.

Just my thoughts,

M.