sacred
Active Member
My experience with VIA wifi when traveling from Montreal to Toronto is occasional drops in service that make me have to stop what I'm working on and switch to cellular (or just wait).
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- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
roger1818
Senior Member
nfitz
Superstar
Ah, I see where you are coming from. I thought you meant they made you travel VIA business class instead of VIA economy class! Which just boggled my mind.
roger1818
Senior Member
As we discussed earlier, not all business travelers use business class, so trains with no economy coaches would be problematic for them, unless frequency of service is very high (much higher than HFR). Also, economy class passengers might be more value oriented than schedule oriented but, if they have to wait several hours for a train, they might drive instead. I just fail to see the advantage for VIA having trains with no economy coaches on them for the foreseeable future.
It also won't be as easy for VIA to reconfigure trains with the new fleet. They won't be able to add or remove coaches in the middle of the day. While I don't thin this is a bad thing, they need to make sure the trainsets are in versatile configurations that can be used later in the day. A train with only business class coaches has limited use.
But most airplanes have more economy class seats than business class seats. I cant think of any major airlines that have flights with no economy seats.
That may be true, but unless VIA has some of the business coaches changed into economy coaches, I still think the order has too many business coaches in it.
I agree. The top priority is they need to fill seats.
sacred
Active Member
How does VIA provide wifi on a moving train? A long wire? \s
VIA provides a map of where the signal is weak: https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-information/board-services/free-wifi
micheal_can
Senior Member
The same way buses do... they are connected to a cell or satellite link.
kEiThZ
Superstar
That's because they don't usually label them under the headline brand. There's British Airways all business service from London City:
Business class | Travel classes | British Airways
Fly Club World with British Airways, the longhaul business-class service with premium levels of comfort and service to make every journey unforgettable.
www.britishairways.com
BA even had the Open Skies airline which operated as all business at one point. There's La Compagnie in Paris today. And there's small carriers that basically run all J services, both as independent corporate shuttles and on behalf of the majors. Privatair is an example of such a carrier. Far more common is companies running their own bizjets on regular shuttle service. In short, if there's demand, somebody will fill it.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that VIA would or needs to do this. But I would hope that if they saw the demand, they wouldn't shy away from it. I can certainly see how a subfleet of 2-3 all business class trains can be used to boost business class offerings at peak, if necessary. Could even let them reduce business class seating on their other trains.
Based on what? You'd have to have the kind of access that @Urban Sky has to VIA's yield management model to know whether they have too much business class seating. I trust VIA has the data and modeling to back up their fleet sizing decisions.
Personally, I think their business class is undersized today. Which is exactly why fares are so high. Increasing the number of business class seats should let them drop business class fares allowing them to be way more competitive with the airlines.
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kEiThZ
Superstar
Oh the wifi most definitely has gaps. But that doesn't say anything about coverage for the Havelock sub. And heck, if VIA gets enough traffic, it might even be possible to convince Bellus and/or Rogers to cover the corridor.
nfitz
Superstar
Even if they are out, there's nothing to stop them selling some business class seats on economy. I've certainly been pushed to Business Class with economy tickets on British Airways before .. (which blew my mind away, as I was travelling with two pre-teens ... so I already had tons of extra space). I'm always sandwiched in Economy travelling solo.
And yet the 150 years of rail service to Kitchener hasn't pushed Rogers to cover that corridor properly yet ...
Can't they just stick a Starlink antenna on the top of the train, and feed the wifi?
sacred
Active Member
Yay! Someone got the pointAnd yet the 150 years of rail service to Kitchener hasn't pushed Rogers to cover that corridor properly yet ...
Can't they just stick a Starlink antenna on the top of the train, and feed the wifi?
Getting this right early on in HFR could be critical.
kEiThZ
Superstar
Yay! Someone got the point
Getting this right early on in HFR could be critical.
Depends on the cost. Way too many people assume Starlink will be dirt cheap. This is gonna be like Musk's $35k Model 3 that you can't order online and comes with severe handicaps, so almost nobody buys the model.
VIA could put up a Satcom connection today if they wanted. The cost just isn't worthwhile. Especially not when the wifi is free. But it is something for them to consider as business travel expands. Maybe include it for free with a business class ticket.
micheal_can
Senior Member
What if it were included in the higher fares, but the lowest one had a charge for it?
lenaitch
Senior Member
Even if they are out, there's nothing to stop them selling some business class seats on economy. I've certainly been pushed to Business Class with economy tickets on British Airways before .. (which blew my mind away, as I was travelling with two pre-teens ... so I already had tons of extra space). I'm always sandwiched in Economy travelling solo.
And yet the 150 years of rail service to Kitchener hasn't pushed Rogers to cover that corridor properly yet ...
Can't they just stick a Starlink antenna on the top of the train, and feed the wifi?
Anything that I have read (which is admittedly, not much) says Starlink is still in beta and is designed for a fixed point use (the antenna apparently has a dish postioning motor to point at the best satellite). Perhaps they will develop one for a moving platform, and come up with a price, in time.
kEiThZ
Superstar
Exactly what I suggested. They make it free in business class and charge everybody else for it. And put up broadband Satcom or work out arrangements with Bell or Rogers for improved terrestrial coverage.
The currebt service isn't just somewhat spotty. Also has limited bandwidth. So there's definitely room for improvement. It's a question of the business case though. Installing the antennas cheap. And they have to get enough paid users to justify it. VIA must know more. Because I've gotten surveys about their wifi a while back. At this point, if they intend to do anything, might as an well wait for the new fleet.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Reception on highway 7 is not bad at all. It's North of Highway 7 is an issue. It wouldn't be that hard to point some of the existing towers to cover the railway.
Also the benefit of building this new railway is that it provides a right of way for Telecom providers to lease the ROW to lay down their fibre. They can then build cell repeaters along the line. Plus they will need it for CTC and radio communication anyway.
Much like the when the telegraph wires ran along the railway right of way.
Also the benefit of building this new railway is that it provides a right of way for Telecom providers to lease the ROW to lay down their fibre. They can then build cell repeaters along the line. Plus they will need it for CTC and radio communication anyway.
Much like the when the telegraph wires ran along the railway right of way.