lead82
Senior Member
Agreed. Let’s compare us to the UK or France. Our VIA system is a disgrace. Even compare us to Australia which has a similar development level and had much better rail system.
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Can we not with this. We are comparing entire countries to an individual inter-regional operator. Within those countries there will be operators who provide good service and those that do not, and in other situations where the same operator may have better stations than VIA and worse on train service or vice versa. Whatever about France and Australia, whose systems I don’t follow closely, it is not hard to find examples of where some UK train operators do a pretty awful job.Agreed. Let’s compare us to the UK or France. Our VIA system is a disgrace. Even compare us to Australia which has a similar development level and had much better rail system.
^The observation in all of this that is fair is that VIA has always delivered a state of good repair, in a way that some operators in other jurisdictions clearly haven't. If you ever rode a Thunder Bay built bilevel in Metrolink (with a k) service.... the difference was instantly obvious.
I have never found Amtrak to be threadbare, but just as high traffic subways aren't always pristine, Amtrak trains in mainline service certainly show wear and tear.
I'm not sure I am proud that we can eat off the floor of a spotless HEP coach that is approaching 75 years in age. Maybe we should do better and not point fingers.
- Paul
I think this is less of a commentary on maintenance and cleaning practices and more on the prevalence of passenger based rail transit. Where it serves a much larger population, with greater turnover at lower cost.The amount of tagging/ vandalism you see on passenger trains in Europe is staggering. Something you hardly ever see in North America.
View attachment 550449
Even on the inside of the trains. This video really shows how much of an issue the vandalism of trains is in Europe. At one point of the video they can't even see out the windows because of all the spray paint.
So what we did was deal with FastFrate to handle our intermodal - Toronto to Vancouver, then on to Seattle or Portland. We actually got good customer service. I guess because they have preferred terminal access, and are picking up the last mile, they were able to arrange things that we simply could not.Recently, in the past 10 years, our company had discussions with the carriers about movements in volume from both coasts to the Toronto and Ontario area and were always taken aback by the time required and the attitude - ”Here is our service, if you don’t like it, get a truck”. So, yes. Trucks(s) ( with emphasis on the s ) it was. But the lack of interest in innovation, in expanding service, in improving service times was startling at the time. I still firmly believe that railways could play a much greater role in moving goods and commodities around this country and continent - but it’s going to take leadership that I am not sure is there to see opportunities. And leadership that looks past the legacy (?) of Hunter Harrison.
According to this article, the railway company claims industrial paints are being used to defeat standard cleaning, and drones to monitor for any security response to the taggers.The amount of tagging/ vandalism you see on passenger trains in Europe is staggering. Something you hardly ever see in North America.
View attachment 550449
Even on the inside of the trains. This video really shows how much of an issue the vandalism of trains is in Europe. At one point of the video they can't even see out the windows because of all the spray paint.
wouldnt that be more of an issue of security of the MSFs over the actual quality of their service? its not like vandals are tagging while the train is in service. this is all overnight work.The amount of tagging/ vandalism you see on passenger trains in Europe is staggering. Something you hardly ever see in North America.
View attachment 550449
Even on the inside of the trains. This video really shows how much of an issue the vandalism of trains is in Europe. At one point of the video they can't even see out the windows because of all the spray paint.
My post wasn't regarding service. More regarding the cleanliness of the trains.wouldnt that be more of an issue of security of the MSFs over the actual quality of their service?
Then how do you explain the tagging on the inside of the trains?its not like vandals are tagging while the train is in service.
True but I think it's something that is unavoidable unless there's a lot of surplus rolling stock to bring in while the affected interiors are cleaned. It's more of a culture thing overseas. You don't see japan having vandalized trains becuase they value rail as the pride of their culture. Meanwhile, European vandals value trains as a blank canvasMy post wasn't regarding service. More regarding the cleanliness of the trains.
Then how do you explain the tagging on the inside of the trains?
I don‘t think that the amount of graffiti and vandalism on trains are that much of a cultural thing (at least not when comparing North America and Europe): both were so epidemic on the NYC Subway throughout the 1970s that it even has its own Winipedia entry:True but I think it's something that is unavoidable unless there's a lot of surplus rolling stock to bring in while the affected interiors are cleaned. It's more of a culture thing overseas. You don't see japan having vandalized trains becuase they value rail as the pride of their culture. Meanwhile, European vandals value trains as a blank canvas
Right, my point being that while Canada doesn't have the best service compared to Europe/ Asia, Canadians still take pride in what we have, while maintaining a desire to see it improved. That's usually visible in how clean our trains are, drivers respecting rail road crossings, etc.True but I think it's something that is unavoidable unless there's a lot of surplus rolling stock to bring in while the affected interiors are cleaned. It's more of a culture thing overseas. You don't see japan having vandalized trains becuase they value rail as the pride of their culture. Meanwhile, European vandals value trains as a blank canvas
One the Canadian and other remote western trains I don't see anything other than those caches from the 1950's. They're just too iconic.Right, my point being that while Canada doesn't have the best service compared to Europe/ Asia, Canadians still take pride in what we have, while maintaining a desire to see it improved. That's usually visible in how clean our trains are, drivers respecting rail road crossings, etc.
The fact that VIA has coaches from the 1950's still running on our tracks, and they're generally in good condition, I think says a lot about the train culture in Canada. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing I guess depends on who you ask.