Extra Trains for the Holidays

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A young girl looking out the window of a train, passing by a coastal scene with snow in the air. Text reads The Ocean.
A Christmas present from VIA! Extra trains will once again run between Halifax and Montreal for the holiday season.

Good news for holiday travellers in Atlantic Canada: VIA Rail has announced that they will once again be running extra departures of The Ocean over the upcoming holiday season. Although a trial-run last year did not bring in as many passengers as VIA had hoped, the railway continues to believe that there is potential for extra ridership over the busy weeks around Christmas, as many people travel to spend time with their families.

As they did last year, VIA has added three extra round-trips into the schedule over a roughly two-week period, meaning there will be a total of 24 departures (12 in each direction) from Dec. 16th and Jan. 3rd, an increase of 6 total departures. It seems VIA is working to learn from the mistakes they made last year. This year’s trains have been added to the schedule earlier, and there is already promotion of the extra trains on the VIA website. How extensively they will advertise these trains remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: if we want to encourage VIA to continue running extra trains during the holidays and consider adding additional frequencies at other times of the year, these trains will need to be well used!

The Ocean normally runs between Halifax and Montreal on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday in each direction. Because Christmas Day falls on a Friday, there will be no train that day in either direction. Instead, that trip will be rescheduled to a non-normal day of the week, meaning there will effectively be 4 unusual departures in each direction, even though only 3 of those are truly “extra” trains.

Here is the schedule of additional departures:

VIA 14 (Montreal-Halifax)

Monday Dec. 21
Tuesday Dec. 22
Monday Dec. 28**
Tuesday Dec. 29

VIA 15 (Halifax-Montreal)

Tuesday Dec. 22
Monday Dec. 28**
Tuesday Dec. 29
Saturday Jan. 2

**The starred trains are re-scheduled trains from Christmas Day.

Continue reading “Extra Trains for the Holidays” →

Fundy Rose makes her maiden voyage

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Two large ferry boats, one visibly newer than the other, sailing in the Bay of Fundy
Old meets new: the outgoing ferry Princess of Acadia is in the foreground, with her replacement Fundy Rose in the background

The venerable Bay of Fundy ferry Princess of Acadia was sailing her final miles as the last days of July slipped away.  Her much-anticipated replacement – the newly rechristened Fundy Rose – was undergoing a final and thorough round of sea trials to make sure everything was in readiness for her first revenue trip, which at long last took place on the morning of July 28.

The Fundy Rose – while not a brand-new ship – is some 30 years younger than the aging Princess. Purchased last year by the federal government for $44.6 million, the 124-metre ferry spent the winter in Halifax undergoing a main engine overhaul, extensive interior refurbishment, and upgrades to hydraulic and control systems before being turned over to operator Bay Ferries Limited in early July.

Bay Ferries vice-president Danny Bartlett noted that it had originally been hoped that the new vessel would have entered service in the spring.  But with her delayed debut taking place in the peak tourism season, the company considered it prudent to take extra time to do everything possible to ensure a smooth and seamless transition – free from mechanical or other issues that could rain on the inaugural parade. Continue reading “Fundy Rose makes her maiden voyage” →

Transit plan progresses in SW New Brunswick

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St. Andrew’s Mayor Stan Choptiany finally sees light at the end of the tunnel, and is confident that there will be public transportation linking communities in Charlotte County with Saint John by late this fall.

“It’s happening,” he commented, following the July 22 inaugural meeting of the newly constituted not-for profit Southwest New Brunswick Transportation Authority Inc.  It’s the result of two years of deliberations by the members of the Charlotte-York Transportation Committee, which initially met to find solutions to the lack of adequate public transit in this region of rural New Brunswick – especially to the regional centre, Saint John. The authority’s first act was to hire a project development co-ordinator on full-time contract. The successful applicant was Sue Farquharson of Due South Strategies.

The co-ordinator’s first task is to establish the by-laws, policies, and financial procedures of the newly incorporated authority in order to facilitate the establishment of a board of directors. Initially the proposed board will include the membership of seven municipal representatives, (mayors or their appointees), within the service area of the authority, as well as representatives of unincorporated areas, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of the existing dial-a-ride services in the region. Continue reading “Transit plan progresses in SW New Brunswick” →