[reaperexpress]

I thought ÖBB Nightjet was going to be a gamechanger and could maybe serve as a model for VIA long distance services. But then you see posts like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734361057018126773

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734367524693610625

When my girlfriend and I took Nightjet from Utrecht NL to Vienna AT two years ago it cost us €120 each way for the whole room, so €60 per person. That's an 1100 km trip for less than a typical ticket from Toronto to Ottawa on Via.

I think that the ÖBB website is a more reputable source than Twitter for discussing the price of ÖBB services. Here are the prices for a single adult for a random day a few weeks from now:

The real gamechanger will be when the couchette class (the second option, for €119,90) gains the capsule-style mini-cabins. For older trains such as the one here, that class consists of a bed in a room shared with strangers.

 

[Urban Sky]

Ii‘m a bit suspcious of this because even the coach („Sitzwagen“) is quoted at the same 525€, whereas the Couchette („Liegewagen“) is slightly less expensive. Maybe a glitch in the system or just someone who wants to show full compartment prices for singlr occupation, which is of course the most promising way to trigger insane per-passenger prices, but achieves little else…

 

[kEiThZ]

The author of the above tweet wrote a full article. There's a lot more than the tweets I posted.

Nightjet Launches New Insanely Expensive Ticket Prices

Nightjet launched insanely expensive new ticket prices, with a single sleeper on the Vienna-Amsterdam night train now costing up to €1030.

paliparan.com

He also has this fare table:

That said I really like what ÖBB did with Nightjet and hope we can get that kind of fit out for any long haul fleet renewal.

 

[Aylmer]

I thought ÖBB Nightjet was going to be a gamechanger and could maybe serve as a model for VIA long distance services. But then you see posts like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734361057018126773

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734367524693610625

I'm a bit skeptical of this. It's not that it's false, but rather that it's a bit misleading to compare the single most expensive option. Yeah, it's €525 for the single cabin for one person with WC. But it looks like he could reserve the cabin for 2 for €160 and a sleeping pod for €70.

It's like using Prestige Class as a price comparison; it feels like he's trying to make a point somewhat disingenuously.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Another new trainset in Canada:

 

[littlewill1166]

Prices are all one-way including tax. It doesn't really help me if there's cheap tickets in January, since I'm travelling in December. Like I said, I always choose Via if the ticket is under $80, and yet I haven't ridden Via since my trip on the 4th of March, which cost $61.02.

Here were the advertised prices for when I was booking the intervening 3 trips I took to Toronto by bus or train:
View attachment 526001View attachment 526002

This comparison isn't as valid anymore since VIA modified its loyalty program. If you're a premier member, you consider points, and you value each point at $0.20. You're getting at least $0.60 back in points. The upcharge to a plus fare is less than what it was before. If you opt for a plus fare, it's $0.90 back in points. I've effectively gotten something better than the $25/ticket Toronto-Ottawa fares I wanted a few months back.

 

[Bordercollie]

Here is an interesting proposal...https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/saskatchewan-mayors-seek-to-shift-route-of-vias-canadian/

 

[Urban Sky]

Here is an interesting proposal...https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/saskatchewan-mayors-seek-to-shift-route-of-vias-canadian/

We’ve already discussed this proposal at lengths over on Groups.io:

VIA #1 & 2 to Prairie North

groups.io

Basically (and as with so many rail fantasies discussed on forums like this here), it’s a solution which ignores the actual problems and makes questionable trade-offs (like sacrificing Saskatoon to serve Loydsminster and Warman instead):

 

[micheal_can]

Here is an interesting proposal...https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/saskatchewan-mayors-seek-to-shift-route-of-vias-canadian/

What this speaks to is the growing desire to more service outside of the Corridor.
This is where we try to talk about it:

Lack of meaningful Passenger Rail service outside the Quebec-Windsor Corridor

Lack of meaningful Passenger Rail service outside the Quebec-Windsor Corridor As indicated in its title, this thread is dedicated to the discussion of any passenger rail services outside the Quebec-Windsor Corridor, which lost passenger rail service or have it seen reduced to a less-than-daily...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[micheal_can]

We’ve already discussed this proposal at lengths over on Groups.io:

VIA #1 & 2 to Prairie North

groups.io

Basically (and as with so many rail fantasies discussed on forums like this here), it’s a solution which ignores the actual problems and makes questionable trade-offs (like sacrificing Saskatoon to serve Loydsminster and Warman instead):

View attachment 527393

You could go north from Saskatoon on the Warman Sub. As more local governments demand more service than what exists, eventually Via/the federal government will need to make a substantial investment There will come a day where even you cannot ignore that anymore.

 

[kEiThZ]

Here is an interesting proposal...https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/saskatchewan-mayors-seek-to-shift-route-of-vias-canadian/

Let them pony up. Chasing such dreams is massively expensive. Especially, if the service results in loss of high revenue tourism.

There's zero interest nationally in pouring money into services that would serve handfuls of people. It's poor value for money from an economic or policy perspective. And from a straight up political perspective won't move any needles at all.

 

[micheal_can]

Let them pony up. Chasing such dreams is massively expensive. Especially, if the service results in loss of high revenue tourism.

There's zero interest nationally in pouring money into services that would serve handfuls of people. It's poor value for money from an economic or policy perspective. And from a straight up political perspective won't move any needles at all.

Maybe each province should pay a portion of the passenger rail that runs through their province. However,I doubt ON or QC would be happy with the amount they would have to pay.

 

[Urban Sky]

As I keep saying: the main motivation for demanding (additional) non-corridor intercity passenger rail services seems to always be that “the feds” would pay for it. Anyone concerned about actually providing value-for-money by targeting the actual mobility gaps would propose subsidies to enhance intercity bus services rather than much-more-expensive and much-less-useful passenger rail, but heaven forbid if the only citizens who stand to benefit from such subsidies would be asked to pay fir it with their own tax dollars…

 

[SkylineHorizons]

Fatality today Kingston sub shut down rn around Rouge Hill

 

[kEiThZ]

Maybe each province should pay a portion of the passenger rail that runs through their province. However,I doubt ON or QC would be happy with the amount they would have to pay.

There's a lot of things that the provinces should maybe do. They aren't interested though. And no federal party is interested in making them do so. That makes all these hypotheticals pointless.

And I'm not sure why they should either. They are spending billions every year building public transit in cities. Intercity transport is low on their priority list. And rightfully so, when virtually every local transport project has better returns on ridership, economics and emissions. There's a lot of transit problems to solve before intercity travel is important. About the only exception to that rule is the Corridor, which the feds understand to be economically, environmentally and politically important. The rest of VIA is mandated charity for remote communities. They don't need to spend a penny more than is necessary.