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Not to Windsor - it will lay over during the day at TMC, before heading to London and overnighting there.

It will return to Toronto via Kitchener - then then onto Montreal - tomorrow morning.

Dan
Thanks for the clarity. Will be quite sad to see new, fast equipment crawling along the Guelph Sub lol.
 
Not to Windsor - it will lay over during the day at TMC, before heading to London and overnighting there.

It will return to Toronto via Kitchener - then then onto Montreal - tomorrow morning.

Dan
Also, wondering if you can confirm that it will follow train 75 to London? I might try to catch it in Oakville. Thanks!
 
The problem sometimes is that people will advocate for rail and only rail, without considering any other kind of mode. You can fund many more buses between Calgary and Edmonton for the same price as a brand new rail line. As with everything, if it's well connected to transit at both ends and it's fast and convenient, modal share will shift.

There's just this stubborn tendency among railfans to think that a bus is not sexy or comfortable.

There is also an assumption that just because trains can be green, that trains are always green. In reality, a lightly used train can have higher per passenger carbon emissions than driving (or even flying for longer distances). Also the carbon emissions saved by freight trains dwarf any potential carbon emissions that can be saved by passenger trains, so it is important not to discourage rail freight. If anything, we should be encouraging more freight to be moved from trucks to train, but that is rarely talked about by rail fans (or politicians).
 
It isn’t like Calgary-Edmonton is a stretch. It was the other corridor examined in the mid 80s by VIA in its HSR study.
If I remember correctly, it was the early 1980s, and there wasn't much enthusiasm from VIA, and it was done at the behest of the Trudeau government.

Ditto for the option(s) to serve Mirabel.
 
Why isn't it going to Windsor?

Probably planned for a later date. One of the things that they are doing on this trip is testing access and clearances at many of the stations and other locations. For instance, they were testing the wye at TMC during the layover today.

I thought that there are no available track slots on the Guelph Sub without conflicting with existing trains?

There are absolutely track slots, but they have to be planned. And as this train is non-revenue, it's not so imperative that it holds to schedule.

Dan
 
If I remember correctly, it was the early 1980s, and there wasn't much enthusiasm from VIA, and it was done at the behest of the Trudeau government.

Ditto for the option(s) to serve Mirabel.
The study didn’t dive deep into travel demand and rail demand sucked between the cities in the 80s with unreliable not fast service which required a cab to get to downtown Edmonton.

one of the compelling things about Calgary Edmonton is the amount of travel demand is quite high for cities their size their distance apart. It is a function of not being near anything else!!

At one point air travel between the cities was closing in on 2 million pax a year, down to 600,000 in 2016 ish. Driven by: better highway, worse air travel experience (air terminals used to be 4km from downtown Edmonton and 6 km from downtown Calgary, airport security), and more direct services from Edmonton.

Better rail was opposed by Edmonton until the 2010s as undermining Edmonton’s ability to attract flights.

Main conclusion of the VIA report was that HSR would be expensive, and upgrading from the dayliners to LRC would be expensive for little gain.
 
I thought that there are no available track slots on the Guelph Sub without conflicting with existing trains?
There are absolutely track slots, but they have to be planned. And as this train is non-revenue, it's not so imperative that it holds to schedule.

Dan
Given that GO (and VIA) trains only operate in peak direction during peak hours, it wouldn’t be that difficult to route the train via the Guelph Sub. However, it seems to be routed via the Dundas Sub, where VIA holds a currently vacant slot for #79:
 
Given that GO (and VIA) trains only operate in peak direction during peak hours, it wouldn’t be that difficult to route the train via the Guelph Sub. However, it seems to be routed via the Dundas Sub, where VIA holds a currently vacant slot for #79:
I really hope they bring back trains that ran pre-pandemic. These current schedules make it hard to travel with the train.
 
I really hope they bring back trains that ran pre-pandemic. These current schedules make it hard to travel with the train.
Why would there be any doubt that VIA and GO will reach again their pre-Covid service levels once life returns to normalcy?
 
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Did VIA receive Siemens trains #2 and #3? According to VIA’s NGEC 2021 presentation, #2 was supposed to be delivered in Q4 2021 and #3 in Q1 2022; however, in their NGEC 2022 presentation (Feb. 25) they said, “Vehicles of Train#2 and Train#3 are in Final Assembly” (Feb. 2022). It does still say that they are still “targeting start of passenger service toward the beginning of Q4 2022.” though.

One clue to a possible reason for delay is they said, “Production at Sacramento is ramping-up considering supply chain challenges.” Maybe the second locomotive was delivered in lieu of train #2 due to parts shortages.

The latest presentation has some interesting pictures of the winter testing.
 

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