[Bordercollie]

It was like a flash-freeze last night. Accumulated slush would have been in every crevice. Just not enough fusees to thaw everything?

So they sent morning trains through Brockville knowing that there is a train blocking the platform and telling customers that they will be moving shortly is incredibly stupid.
There used to be a siding behind the station building but it was torn up. Perhaps an additional track to allow trains to pass even if the station is blocked might be a good idea.

Even doing Uber pool to transport people to Ottawa would have been better than leaving people stranded.

 

[Jm gravel]

So Via…but I like accumulating points from late trains. But could someone not tell me why they can’t have a standing offer for an Uber Eats service in Kingston, Brockville etc. when they run out of food? How hard is it to phone ahead for a refill of chips and coke? I have had this happen a couple of times recently even without an unscheduled overnighter…

 

[Bordercollie]

So Via…but I like accumulating points from late trains. But could someone not tell me why they can’t have a standing offer for an Uber Eats service in Kingston, Brockville etc. when they run out of food? How hard is it to phone ahead for a refill of chips and coke? I have had this happen a couple of times recently even without an unscheduled overnighter…

One of the passengers did say that they are being fed. I don't know what that means thou.

They don't have a contingency or a plan to get people hotels?

It's Brockville I'm sure they can find 100 empty rooms or send people to Ottawa by Taxi or Uber. The roads couldn't have been that bad.

 

[reaperexpress]

So Via…but I like accumulating points from late trains. But could someone not tell me why they can’t have a standing offer for an Uber Eats service in Kingston, Brockville etc. when they run out of food? How hard is it to phone ahead for a refill of chips and coke? I have had this happen a couple of times recently even without an unscheduled overnighter…

They ordered pizza to Kingston station one time my train was severely late. Here is a photo of the pizza I received:

 

[Bordercollie]

They ordered pizza to Kingston station one time my train was severely late. Here is a photo of the pizza I received:
View attachment 702233

One cold slice. Great

 

[Bordercollie]

Given these recent problems in the corridor what are some possible solutions?
More spare crews?
Better incident management?
Placement of spare consist at Ottawa Station?
IF crews were available could they have used one of the consists for the morning to go to Brockville and transfer the passengers and bring them to Ottawa?
Additional passing track at Brockville? Could they exted one of the tracks at Chelsea Siding to the main line bypassing the station track? This would also allow two trains to occupy the station at the same time (provided that they are allowed to cross the track at grade).

 

[Urban Sky]

It's Brockville I'm sure they can find 100 empty rooms or send people to Ottawa by Taxi or Uber. The roads couldn't have been that bad.

Comments like that make me seriously wonder how many folks people here believe are working at VIA’s Operations Control Center (OCC) at nighttime to expect them that they could book hotels and Ubers/Taxis for hundreds of passengers at virtually no advance notice, all while also planning service recovery and communicating the steps taken to the crews on the trains and other stakeholders…

 

[micheal_can]

December 10 - No 669 broke down near Mallorytown and had no power. (No 669's equipment arrived in Montreal as No 62 in the morning, departing Toronto 2 hours late, swapped from Set 6 to Set 14 in Toronto, then continuing back west as 669. No 48 (Set 7/25) pushed disabled 669 to Brockville. At first they couldn’t couple 48 to 669 so that caused a delay. After 48 and 669 got to Brockville, they could not get them uncoupled. Passengers from dead 669 got on 54's equipment on adjacent track. Passengers from 48 squeezed onto 54. Engineers had to be swapped out due to length of shift and replacements had to travel to Brockville. Mechanics sent to uncouple 48 from 669. No 669 arrived in Toronto 8 hours late. Buses sent from Montreal to take passengers to Ottawa. No 48 still had not arrived in Ottawa by noon December 11 having spent the night in Brockville (Set 7/25 still there at 1100 Dec.11 and the ETA for passengers was Ottawa noon - 13 hours, likely aboard No 50! Passengers were allowed to find their own means at Brockville. December 11: No 641 running 5 hours late; No 41 4 hours late, J-trained. Exceptional service recovery for 669's passengers, due to loss of HEP for a significant duration: full refund and 100% travel credit.

It feels like as horrible as it was, they have learned from previous times to do what they can do as soon as they can do it. Now if they can do it faster, that would be ideal.

 

[Bordercollie]

Comments like that make me seriously wonder how many folks people here believe are working at VIA’s Operations Control Center (OCC) at nighttime to expect them that they could book hotels and Ubers/Taxis for hundreds of passengers at virtually no advance notice, all while also planning service recovery and communicating the steps taken to the crews on the trains and other stakeholders…

Their job is to provide transportation from point A to B safely and within a timeline.

When rural services are cancelled customers are taxi'd to their destination on VIA's dime.

The same should be in the corridor. Giving me my money back and leaving me to fend for myself is useless.

Same with airlines. They have to provide compensation if the trip is cancelled.

I can understand that one thing went wrong and they had one solution and that didn't work. The problem is that it happens too often. It happened last year and I believe there have been others this year but not to the scale.

 

[Bordercollie]

Their job is to provide transportation from point A to B safely and within a timeline.

When rural services are cancelled customers are taxi'd to their destination on VIA's dime.

The same should be in the corridor. Giving me my money back and leaving me to fend for myself is useless.

Same with airlines. They have to provide compensation if the trip is cancelled.

I can understand that one thing went wrong and they had one solution and that didn't work. The problem is that it happens too often. It happened last year and I believe there have been others this year but not to the scale.

So I guess the question that they have to figure out was why did they have trouble coupling and decoupling the trains and what can be done to prevent it in the future. Also how did they get it to Brockville but could not return to Ottawa or get to Toronto?

 

[Urban Sky]

Their job is to provide transportation from point A to B safely and within a timeline.

Sure, and as with every job, it’s impossible to deliver on the job expectations 100% of the time.

When rural services are cancelled customers are taxi'd to their destination on VIA's dime.

Sure, but that’s dealing with a hand full passengers at a time, not 3 trainloads full of passengers and a service disruption which will affect the entire Corridor over the next 24 hours.

The same should be in the corridor. Giving me my moneyback and leaving me to fend for myself is useless.

Sure, but even the best-trained employes would be bound to the constraints of the real world.

Same with airlines. They have to provide compensation if the trip is cancelled.

That’s what VIA did.

I can understand that one thing went wrong and they had one solution and that didn't work. The problem is that it happens too often. It happened last year and I believe there have been others this year but not to the scale.

VIA operates some 70 trains per day (quick estimate after quite a few beers), which adds up to 25,000 trains per year. Even 10 stranded trains per year represent only 0.04% of all departures. We can strive towards mitigating and minimizing risks, but we will never eliminate them entirely. There are just too many things which can happen and many of these things are just beyond our control…

 

[crs1026]

What a disaster.

How were they not able to uncouple the trains?

I'm sure that this is due to compatibility between old and new equipment.

They need to work on deploying more Siemens trains to the corridor and improve their reliability.

Rash assumptions all round.

The disabled train was moved from Mallorytown (population 300, no train station, no amenities or railway support infrastructure) to Brockville (pop 22,000, with train station, municipal and commercial infrastructure with some support infrastructure possible from CN). That seems like a pretty sensible operating decision, and positioned VIA to provide some level of urgent assistance to passengers. Spotting the train there does not imply that the line was blocked, nor does it imply that VIA was unable to load or debark passengers from other trains.

Why did it not go further? Ottawa makes no sense in terms of repair capability. There is no reason to assume the train could be moved safely at more than 10-15 mph, if at all. The dead parrot speech likely applies - this was a dead train.

Incompatibility of equipment is a shot in the dark. A jammed or frozen operating lever, or a frozen angle cock, is enough to prevent the trains from uncoupling. The news report implies that at least some heat and light was available, which implies that the prime mover was running and delivering HEP.. But possibly the "could not uncouple" is a media replacement for "thought it unwise to uncouple" while the rescue train was supplying power or air to the dead trainset.

I'm not sure that Uber can provide mass transport capacity to Brockville, even the number of taxis is pretty small. We know little about what measures VIA did deploy, but this is not as serious an event as last year's train-stuck-in-blizzard-with-no-help scenario. I would give VIA the benefit of the doubt that something more effective was executed. The operating moves needed to have 48 rescue the train and move it to Brockville would be complicated and suggest effective communication and cooperation between VIA Operations and the CN dispatching center - that's to the good.

Winter is winter, trains do break down.

- Paul

 

[lenaitch]

Brockville is about 22K. A very quick Internet search reveals it has no rideshare, and unknown number of taxis and about 300 hotel rooms. No clue about the occupancy rate, taxi availability or food service capacity - no doubt it would depend on the time of day, time of year, etc. No clue about VIA RTC's capacity to have somebody always available to sit down and start calling around to find food and accommodation. Even with a comprehensive, nation-wide contact list, somebody still has to make calls. If people want some kind of standing agreements to hold rooms, provide food, etc. in every burg, it's gonna cost.

 

[p_xavier]

So Via…but I like accumulating points from late trains. But could someone not tell me why they can’t have a standing offer for an Uber Eats service in Kingston, Brockville etc. when they run out of food? How hard is it to phone ahead for a refill of chips and coke? I have had this happen a couple of times recently even without an unscheduled overnighter…

China trains are good for that, you order food for station delivery on your train.

 

[Trackside_Treasure]

VIA executives and government ministers were brought before the TRAN[sportation] committee after the VIA train 622 debacle on August 31, 2024. VIA has changed some things: bringing disabled trains into a nearby station, setting a time at which a seriously late train's problems are escalated up the org. chart, etc.

Calls to station food, drinks, taxis, buses, hotel rooms, spare equipment are not only unfeasible, taxpayers would not support the cost required to do so. Nor would VIA passengers. More here on the 622 debacle and the conversations, for those who think it has never been addressed adequately by VIA:

The Sad Saga of VIA Train 622

A major media black-eye for VIA occurred on Saturday, August 31, 2024 when VIA train No 622 was marooned for several hours at Laurier-Statio...

tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com