One of the extra trains during the 2015-16 holiday season departs Halifax with a stainless steel consist in tow.
The Maritimes will be seeing extra passenger trains for the Christmas holiday season once again this year. It might seem early to be thinking about Christmas, but VIA is clearly trying to make sure that people have extra options when they look to book their Christmas travel, which many will do well in advance.
Similar to last year, there will be 3 extra trains in each direction, plus rescheduled trains from both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve (which fall on Sundays this year, so the trains that would run those days are cancelled), meaning that there will be a total of 5 trains each way running on unusual days of the week.
Also in keeping with past years, a set of HEP (Budd-built stainless steel) equipment will be running on 3 departures in each direction. This equipment should include a Skyline dome car, a full dining car, and sleeping cars with upper and lower berths, roomettes, and double and triple bedrooms.
The dates of operation from Dec. 20th to January 5th are listed below. Unusual dates of operation are in bold. Again, three of those are added departures, and two are rescheduled dates. The type of equipment (Renaissance of HEP) is also indicated for each trip.
–
#14 Montreal-Halifax
Wednesday, Dec. 20 Ren
Thursday, Dec. 21 HEP
Friday, Dec. 22 Ren
Saturday, Dec. 23 Ren
Tuesday, Dec. 26 HEP
Wednesday, Dec. 27 Ren
Friday, Dec. 29 Ren
Saturday, Dec. 30 HEP
Monday, Jan. 1 Ren
Wednesday, Jan. 3 Ren
Friday, Jan. 5 Ren
–
#15 Halifax-Montreal
Wednesday, Dec. 20 Ren
Friday, Dec. 22 Ren
Saturday, Dec. 23 HEP
Tuesday, Dec. 26 Ren
Wednesday, Dec. 27 Ren
Thursday, Dec. 28 HEP
Friday, Dec. 29 Ren
Tuesday, Jan. 2 Ren
Wednesday, Jan. 3 Ren
Thursday, Jan. 4 HEP
Friday, Jan. 5Ren
–
These extra trains will provide nearly daily service during that period, and will hopefully make it easier for more people to use the train for their holiday travels.
Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May and New Brunswick provincial leader David Coon are among elected officials who have received copies of Riding the Ocean’s Next Wave.
“VIA Rail’s Ocean is dying.” So begins the report recently completed by transportation consultant and advocate Greg Gormick for the advocacy group Save Our Trains in Northern New Brunswick. The new report is titled “Riding the Ocean’s Next Wave: A proposal for VIA Rail Canada’s Maritime services”, and was released in mid-August with considerable media coverage.
Gormick is no stranger to VIA’s Maritime services. He has completed reports on rail service in the region in the past, and toured Atlantic Canada as part of the “National Dream Renewed” campaign several years ago, aiming to generate support for improvements to VIA’s services across the country at a time when the future was looking particularly bleak.
His assessment of the current situation boils down, in essence, to three points: VIA is struggling to compete with discount airlines for end-to-end travel; their equipment is deteriorating; and the inconvenience of a tri-weekly schedule is simply unable to generate adequate ridership or effectively serve any part of the market. These are concerns that are generally shared by TAA. Continue reading “A New Proposal to Rehabilitate the Ocean”→
CN’s Newcastle Sub just north of Rogersville NB. Parts of this line could soon be in jeopardy once again. (Ted Bartlett Photo)
There’s a chance that the fight to save the Newcastle Subdivision could be back on the table sooner than expected. In 2014, the Province of New Brunswick signed an agreement with CN to provide funding to maintain the north (from Irvco, N.B. to Nepisquit Junction, N.B.) and south (between Catamount, N.B. and Nelson Junction) portions of the Newcastle Sub.. This left only the middle section (roughly from Miramichi to Bathurst) uncovered, an issue that would later be solved by an agreement with the federal government.
The original agreement signed between the provincial government and CN indicated that it would ensure continued freight operations on the line for the next 15 years. Unfortunately, one detail was not specified in the press release from CN or other public information at the time: a clause in the agreement would allow for CN to re-evaluate the situation after 5 years, and if traffic on the line had dropped below 2012 levels for two consecutive years, they would be free to terminate the agreement and re-apply to abandon the line.
That clause will be applicable in 2019, meaning that in as little as two years time we could be facing another fight to preserve the route of the Ocean, which may also soon be the route of additional VIA trains if the proposed daily regional services between Campbellton and Moncton get off the ground. Of course it’s not a sure thing that CN will choose to invoke this clause, nor is it certain whether traffic levels have indeed dropped to the point that would make that possible – but the situation does give cause for concern.
TAA will continue to monitor this situation closely, and will plan to work with our partners throughout the region to advocate for solutions to preserve the line and passenger service, should CN seek once again to walk away from the route.
Here are CBC and Radio-Canada reports on the current situation:
