chriskayTO
Active Member
I'm not entirely sure why the speeds have been reduced. The P42s are just as capable of reaching the 100mph top speed as the LRC locomotives and there have been no speed limit reductions as far as I know. The entire Kingston Sub is fairly high quality continuously welded rail, so that shouldn't be an issue. They really need more of the express trains, though. I worked in Montreal for a while and my boss told me that he often likes to take the Metropolis but if it doesn't fit into his schedule he flies because 5+ hours is just too long.
I spoke with an on-board attendant last fall concerning the time discrepancy, and he explained that it was partly to do with the new Renaissance cars now being used, since many of the LRC cars are out of service for refurbishment. I know the LRC cars have the centrifugal banking system, but didn't realize it's so critical to getting up to 95mph. It was his thought that the 3h59m schedule would return once this run is fully back to LRC cars. Whether this is fact or conjecture is hard to tell.