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.
