Category: Ocean

VIA President in Halifax, discusses plans for the Maritimes

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A VIA Rail self-propelled rail diesel car waits at a station
A pair of VIA Rail RDCs, similar to those proposed for regional services in the region. Photo by Tim Hayman

VIA Rail President and CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano was in Halifax on January 31, 2017 to deliver a talk to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. Billed as “VIA Rail’s vision in the Maritimes”, Desjardins-Siciliano addressed a full banquet hall during a luncheon at the Westin Nova Scotian.

Desjardins-Siciliano’s talk was accompanied by a slide presentation, which can be found on our website HERE.

The talk addressed VIA’s plans for the Maritimes, which are essentially two-fold: the anticipated launch of daily regional train services between Campbellton and Moncton and Moncton and Halifax, and the exploration of commuter rail possibilities in the city of Halifax.

It also delved into VIA’s broader goals at the moment, which include seeking funding for a new fleet and dedicated tracks in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Though this doesn’t directly affect the Maritimes, Desjardins-Siciliano reiterated the mantra that what’s good for the Corridor is good for the rest of the system. If VIA can generate additional revenue from that operation, they can use it to add new services and expand their offerings throughout the country. The president has stated on several occasions that the ability to look at launching new regional services in the Maritimes is the result of positive returns in the Corridor in recent years, which have freed up additional funds.

The plans for new regional rail services were originally announced close to two years ago. Despite the delay in launching them, Desjardins-Siciliano was clear that they are a priority for VIA (the top priority outside of the Corridor, in fact), and staff in the region have been hard at work trying to make the necessary arrangements to get the services off the ground. As previously reported, the plan is to run daily weekday trains between Campbellton and Moncton, and between Moncton and Halifax. Trains would depart Campbellton and Moncton heading eastbound early in the morning, and return westbound in the evening. This would allow for travellers to come into Moncton or Halifax for the day to shop, attend medical appointments or other obligations, and return later on the same day.  Continue reading “VIA President in Halifax, discusses plans for the Maritimes” →

VIA reports positive holiday ridership

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The rear end of two stainless-steel trains, with dome-observation cars, at a station platform
A pair of Ocean train sets in Halifax just before Christmas. Extra departures for the holidays meant this sight was once again common for a couple weeks. (Photo – Tim Hayman)

 

VIA Rail is reporting positive results from the 2016-2017 Christmas/New Year’s holiday season. VIA issued a press release on Jan. 12 claiming “record” results, though it’s admittedly not at all clear what their frame of reference is to declare these records (best numbers ever? In the past decade? In the past 5 years?)

Putting aside the hyperbole, the message is still a positive one. VIA has been promoting their trains as an ideal way to travel at that time of year (in particular), and more people seem to be getting that message.

Overall, VIA reported a 16% system wide increase in passenger totals when compared to last year, and a 20% increase in revenues. Increases in the Corridor were consistent with these numbers (16.8% increase in passengers), while both the Canadian (13.8%) and Ocean (2.7%) saw positive changes as well, and small positive trends (1.1%) were found on other regional services.

Given VIA’s decision to run extra trains on the Ocean over the holidays (3 extra trips in each direction over a 2 week Continue reading “VIA reports positive holiday ridership” →

Fewer trains, higher cost – VIA’s Tri-weekly Ocean continues to cost more than 6 day/week service

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Two yellow VIA Rail trains sit on tracks next to each other at the Halifax station on a sunny day.
Two Ocean train sets sit in Halifax on a sunny day about a year before the 2012 service cut. This is now a rare sight, only occurring when VIA runs extra trains over the holiday season. (Tim Hayman photo)

When VIA Rail cut service on the Montreal-Halifax Ocean in half back near the end of 2012, they claimed that the move was made to reduce the cost of running the service. The Ocean, like all of VIA’s services (and indeed, nearly all public transportation systems worldwide), operates at a net “loss”, with subsidies required to offset the operating costs of the service. Trains like the Ocean require a somewhat higher subsidy per passenger than VIA’s Corridor services, and VIA management was supposedly looking for ways to reduce spending across the system. So the Ocean was reduced from 6 day per week operation to only 3.

Passenger rail advocates, including Transport Action Atlantic, raised their voices at the time to warn of the implications of slashing the service. Examples from Canada and elsewhere in the world continue to show that frequency reductions are not an effective means of reducing costs – while they may result in some immediate cost savings, any cost reductions are offset almost without fail by greater reductions in ridership as a result of the less convenient service.

The problem with reduced frequency is that costs don’t come down enough, while revenues plummet. Reducing a service like the Ocean to a lower frequency does reduce some costs, but not all of them, as many fixed costs remain (e.g. maintenance of stations and other infrastructure, equipment costs, some personnel costs, marketing). In other words, a 50% reduction in train frequency does not result in a 50% reduction in costs. VIA’s numbers since 2012 back this up: in 2011, the Ocean cost $48,832,000 to operate 6 days per week. In 2013, that cost was reduced to $43,930,000 for 3 trains per week – a reduction of barely 10%.

Continue reading “Fewer trains, higher cost – VIA’s Tri-weekly Ocean continues to cost more than 6 day/week service” →