[Urban Sky]

Apologies if this has already been posted.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1465892546513620992

We‘ve already discussed this at length back in October:

New schedule for 84 as of November 15, as discussed on groups.io:

View attachment 356931

Metrolinx’ Kitchener service is still to blame for that new schedule, even if not the London extension itself:

I am aware you are neither looking for a new job nor believing that you would be more qualified to do the job of VIA's timetablers. However, when you say that seeing #84's new schedule makes you doubt that the connections "were carefully timed", I feel compelled to point out that there hardly was any choice since there are only four gaps in the timetable which allow to sneak through Georgetown, which leaves only six slots:

• Slot A: Operate between GO#3904 and GO#3956 (dep. Kitchener 05:09 and 06:02, respectively)
• Slot B: Sneak through Georgetown between GO#3812 (dep. 09:30) and GO#3911 (dep. 10:35)
• Slot C: Sneak through Georgetown between GO#3818 (dep. 12:30) and GO#3917 (dep. 13:35)
• Slot D: Sneak through Georgetown between GO#3824 (dep. 15:32) and GO#3923 (dep. 16:35)
• Slot E: Sneak through Georgetown between GO#3836 (dep. 21:30) and GO#3935 (dep. 22:35)
• Slot F: Operate after the arrivals of GO#3935 in Kitchener (arr. 23:28) and of GO #3937 in Guelph (arr. 00:04)

Of these six possible slots, 2 depart Sarnia before 6am and 2 arrive in Toronto after 10 pm, which only leaves Slots C and D - and in order to allow passengers from Sarnia and intermediary stations to spend any time in Toronto, Slot C was the only plausible choice:
View attachment 357804

That said, I fully agree with you that if the infrastructure owner is unable or unwilling to provide more timetable flexibility than only two at least potentially viable slots per day, then there is little point in attempting to provide any Corridor services on that route at all. Nevertheless, the Kitchener Corridor still remains the only corridor over which fast and frequent passenger rail service between Toronto and London seems conceivable within our lifetimes...


That is the topic of a debate we are currently having at Groups.io:

Fw: [Canadian-Passenger-Rail] VIA #84 schedule change, Nov 15

groups.io

VIA #84 schedule change, Nov 15

groups.io

In any case, the absurd lack of time windows to sneak through Georgetown is the dominating timetable constraint which dictates what is possible West of Georgetown, but with the windows being 3 hours apart and the travel time being almost exactly 90 minutes between Georgetown and Stratford, Stratford might be the only place where you could possibly meet. However, such a meet would escalate the risk of cascading trains (where a delayed westbound train delays the eastbound train at Stratford, which in turn delays the outbound GO train at Georgetown, which will then delay the westbound GO train in Kitchener) - and this might be exactly the kind of operational risk Metrolinx would be reluctant to accept...

 

[Allandale25]

^ thanks

 

[Bordercollie]

We‘ve already discussed this at length back in October:




Metrolinx’ Kitchener service is still to blame for that new schedule, even if not the London extension itself:

Faster track times would result in the train occupying the track for less time and as a result you could add more train slots. That might be a solution.

 

[Urban Sky]

Faster track times would result in the train occupying the track for less time and as a result you could add more train slots. That might be a solution.

Faster track speeds West of Georgetown only increases the turnaround time in Kitchener (assuming that the arrival and departure times at Union stay unchanged), whereas faster track speeds East of Georgetown would actually decrease the gap through which VIA trains can sneak. The only effective capacity-enhancing measure is to add a passing track suitable for a VIA train to meet a GO Kitchener train anywhere West of Silver Junction…

 

[crs1026]

I moved heaven and earth to do this one same day! Canada's National Rail Carrier VIA has unveiled its new fleet, and the trains are among the nicest I’ve ever seen, come for a tour with me in this latest video!

Really great video!

The little things you notice

- Really like….. the handholds on the seatbacks, the doorless overhead luggage racks (transparent, so you can see what you’re leaving behind !), how the doors protect the step area from snow, the whole layout and decor….a lot of attention to detail in a lot of little things

- Really, really don’t like….. window spacing and quad seats that have a window pillar down the middle

- Unknowns - couldn’t really see the luggage/bike storage in the video, wondering where the handbrakes are located (irrelevant detail to passengers, but if you’ve ever had to set a few….)…. are those vestibule trapdoors manual or powered? …. how are disabled passengers boarded at low-platform stations?

Great video and an encouraging first look at the new trains.

- Paul


-

 

[crs1026]

Noticed that they field mounted an extension to the plow at the front end. Is that a temporary attachment?

If it’s a post-production mod, it’s a sensible one. That’s a spot whereyou want an easily removable and replaceable edge ….it will get dinged and bashed to heck in regular service, and you want to be able to replace it without having to replace the entire pilot. The extended edge is likely desirable to reduce snow accumulation under the engine.

- Paul

 

[hw621]

Hopefully HFR (and dedicated tracks) can follow sooner rather than later!
Good thing about the Siemens design - you could replace the locomotive with an electric one or a bi-mode when tracks get electrified.

Money on that it will never happen in our life time, or the useful life of these trains...

 

[innsertnamehere]

something interesting in UT's article is that the new trains will apparently result in about a 5% increase in train speeds over today, even without HFR. Which is very interesting to me, I wasn't aware the new trains would result in faster travel times.

 

[smallspy]

Noticed that they field mounted an extension to the plow at the front end. Is that a temporary attachment?

It's not field-mounted, it was installed at the factory.

This way if they hit anything substantial, they can easily replace that smaller portion of the plow rather than the whole thing. It also allows for easy adjustment in height - it needs to be maintained between 6 and 12 inches above the top of the rail.

New trains cannot be operated at top speed due to track quality...sad!

No different than in the US. Or England. Or Germany. Or......

Dan

 

[smallspy]

something interesting in UT's article is that the new trains will apparently result in about a 5% increase in train speeds over today, even without HFR. Which is very interesting to me, I wasn't aware the new trains would result in faster travel times.

Despite being rated for more-or-less the same power as the current locos, the reality is that the new locos will actually have substantially more power available for traction than the older locos.

Dan

 

[kEiThZ]

something interesting in UT's article is that the new trains will apparently result in about a 5% increase in train speeds over today, even without HFR. Which is very interesting to me, I wasn't aware the new trains would result in faster travel times.

Bit better acceleration and ability to sustain slightly higher track speeds. But how useful is that if they end up behind a freight train?

 

[Allandale25]

Via Rail's recent schedule change in Stratford disappoints passengers

One month after celebrating the arrival of a new GO Train, a recent change to the departure time of Stratford’s only Via Rail train has dampened the mood of some lo…

www.stratfordbeaconherald.com

 

[Urban Sky]

Via Rail's recent schedule change in Stratford disappoints passengers

One month after celebrating the arrival of a new GO Train, a recent change to the departure time of Stratford’s only Via Rail train has dampened the mood of some lo…

www.stratfordbeaconherald.com

Even without the insane timetable constraints imposed by GO's current schedule and by the skeleton state of the infrastructure West of Georgetown, I still find it unrealistic to expect the schedule of a once-daily train to simultaneously satisfy the needs of all the communities it serves along its almost five hour long journey...

 

[reaperexpress]

As we discussed earlier (thanks @Urban Sky for the link) VIA 84 had to be moved later because with the decreasing track quality the travel time from London to Kitchener has now grown considerably longer than it was when the schedule was written. Prior to the schedule change on 15 November, it was physically impossible for the train to arrive in Kitchener less than about 20 minutes late, and the train was commonly more than 30 minutes late, causing it to block the first westbound GO train at Georgetown.

VIA tried a quick fix about a year ago by cutting the dwell time in London to allow the train to depart there earlier (thereby breaking the timed connection with VIA 70), but that was nowhere near enough. With the other constraints at London and at Georgetown, the train simply doesn't fit into that time slot anymore now, that it takes 2h12 to get from Kitchener to London.

If Stratford wants the old schedule back, they need to campaign for the track quality to be brought at least back to the level it was a few years ago when the old schedule was written. Whining to VIA will not do anything because the old schedule is physically impossible to achieve now. And it has been for a year, so surely Sharon McDonald, a "semi-regular rider" would have noticed that over the past year there was literally a 0% on-time performance with the old schedule, but with the new schedules trains are often on-time?

 

[kEiThZ]

To those in the know. Would VIA use the new trains on the Seneterre and Jonquiere services eventually? Or is the fleet strictly restricted to Quebec-Windsor?