|
|
|
Thank you Paul! Very cool tracker.You likely saw VIA 1 Canadian on its way to Vancouver.
An even better tracking map is here. Click on a train to get data.
- Paul
Even numbers are eastbound, odd are westbound. So the train you saw, which was heading northbound, is actually timetabled as westbound (Toronto to Vancouver) and so is considered #1.Just curious how does one know if when they get on the train to Vancouver they are on a VIA 1 or VIA 2? I saw a Reddit post about this but is it based on schedule or train traffic to determine the route it takes on any given day?
Thanks again - Charles
In close to a decade of discussion about HFR I haven't seen a compelling reason why the Havelock sub is too good to be true.Sometimes when something is too good to be true, it is for a reason.
I mean the low bid. Lowest bidder wins but that often has its issues.In close to a decade of discussion about HFR I haven't seen a compelling reason why the Havelock sub is too good to be true.
I thought the provincial government was going to buy it to run GO trains? Can VIA buy the route to upgrade the speed? At that point you may as well not run the train.I heard that CN has dropped the speed limit between Stratford and London on the Guelph Subdivision to 20 mph. I noticed on the VIA tracker that VIA 84 took 40 minutes to travel the ten miles between St. Marys and Stratford. Brutal.
My hope on that front is that we solve the Montreal problem by bringing Toronto - Montreal trains to Central but Quebec - Montreal - Ottawa (Fallowfield?) trains can bypass the core using Dorval and Correspondance A40 (seriously?!? That’s ACTUALLY going to be the name?!?) on a schedule staggered such that Ottawa get 30 minute frequency.If as likely they go with real HSR, an Ottawa bypass will almost certainly not happen. But I think there will be consideration of 3 or 4 Montreal-Toronto express trains per day making no stops, which could save around half an hour.
It's not clear what will be done about Fallowfield and Dorval, both of which are very important to Ottawa residents, but to which almost no one from Montreal or Toronto will be travelling. With Air Canada involved, they may well be intending to cut their inefficient Ottawa-Montreal flights and put the pax on trains. One can even dream of check-in and luggage handling in Ottawa.
Just like for bypassing Ottawa, there is no commercial case for bypassing Montreal Gare Centrale.My hope on that front is that we solve the Montreal problem by bringing Toronto - Montreal trains to Central but Quebec - Montreal - Ottawa (Fallowfield?) trains can bypass the core using Dorval and Correspondance A40 (seriously?!? That’s ACTUALLY going to be the name?!?) on a schedule staggered such that Ottawa get 30 minute frequency.
The three challenges of extending HxR from MTRL to QBEC are in that order:
1) Not inconvenience travellers from MTRL towards OTTW/TRTO.
2) To find a convenient way to transfer between QM and MOT trains.
3) To find a convenient downtown(-ish) station for QBEC-MTRL trains.
Challenge #1 prescribes the Status Quo (Terminus at Gare Centrale, Satellite station at Dorval Airport).
Challenge #2 prescribes Dorval as transfer station (as Gare Centrale would escalate trave times).
Challenge #3 leaves us with only two solutions: either extend QM trains beyond Dorval to Gare Centrale (which would not be time-competitive with transfering to the orange line at De La Concorde) or to have a “downtown” station at either Parc (which lacks rail links towards downtown), Canora (which lacks space for proper intercity rail station, especially one which acts as downtown station) or Namur (which would have an inconveniently long walk to the orange line).
That Dorval option is exactly what I’m describing, but instead of terminating or back tracking around the mountain continue them to Ottawa for a frequency boost between Ottawa and Dorva (although that does open the question of whether the recommended transfer point for through QC passengers would be Dorval or Ottawa).Just like for bypassing Ottawa, there is no commercial case for bypassing Montreal Gare Centrale.
As I’ve explained on a different thread, commercial logic dictates that QM trains connect with MOT trains at either Dorval or (less likely) Gare Centrale:
How would it work to get to that station from Ottawa and continue to Quebec City? Forwards in and backwards out?My hope on that front is that we solve the Montreal problem by bringing Toronto - Montreal trains to Central but Quebec - Montreal - Ottawa (Fallowfield?) trains can bypass the core using Dorval and Correspondance A40 (seriously?!? That’s ACTUALLY going to be the name?!?) on a schedule staggered such that Ottawa get 30 minute frequency.
You're overestimating the roughness of the terrain. The route passes through around 80 km of Canadian Shield. The rest is mostly farmland. There are no mountain ranges and there's probably no need for tunnels. HSR lines go through harder terrain in places like California, Italy and Spain. It's a moderately difficult area, not some impenetrable barrier.I don't think a lot of people who are really hot on Peterborough understand just how rough the terrain is through there with so many lakes - which is the reason the current alignment east of Peterborough - which CP abandoned pushing a century ago, is so windy!
The CEA process isn't simple. This will be tied up in environmental assessments for many years just to finalize the alignment - unless they stick to the existing; which will limit speed.
There's advantages and disadvantages to both (many!) routes.
I honestly am starting to believe CN is just letting it rot because they want GO and VIA to take it off their hands.I thought the provincial government was going to buy it to run GO trains? Can VIA buy the route to upgrade the speed? At that point you may as well not run the train.
From Ottawa, there should be something like 10 passengers heading to Montreal for each passenger going to Quebec. Also, passenger volumes should be much larger west of Montreal than towards Quebec City. I don’t see any scope for direct OTTW-QBEC trains, except for morning trains which would be too early to originate in Toronto or evening trains which would be too late to terminate in Toronto. However, I would expect these trains to also serve Gare Centrale (OTTW-DORV-MTRL-Laval-TRIV-QBEC)…That Dorval option is exactly what I’m describing, but instead of terminating or back tracking around the mountain continue them to Ottawa for a frequency boost between Ottawa and Dorva (although that does open the question of whether the recommended transfer point for through QC passengers would be Dorval or Ottawa).
