VIA Rail network developments

[H>T&T>P]

Originally Posted by hwy418

That's great if there are no slow downs on the way. I just took a train from Ottawa to Toronto yesterday and we were about 1 hour late (6 hour trip) due to stopping three times! This is unacceptable and must be addressed with HRF.

I took it at the end of March from Fallowfield and was at Union in under 4 hours.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

I read somewhere that the reinstatement of Train 641 is mainly to appease GTA-bound commuters from Kingston, whose elected officials have been clamouring about this service since it was suspended. The new Challenger sets cannot berth overnight in Kingston so they must depart from Ottawa. As others have said, ridership will likely be pretty sparse between Ottawa and Kingston given the ungodly departure time. Most OTT-TOR biz travel that needs to arrive by 9am simply flies.

Not sure why all the hate for this route. There is already a 5:30 departure that isn't empty. Flying is very expensive when this might be $150 return or less if booked in advance. There are lots of "biz" travel that is very price sensitive. Going to a Co-op interview, NGOs, even a lot of government travel is by train.

[zzptichka]

Midnight departure from Toronto with 5AM arrival would've been great. Staffing shouldn't be an issue now that there is a 4AM departure from Ottawa.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Not sure why all the hate for this route. There is already a 5:30 departure that isn't empty. Flying is very expensive when this might be $150 return or less if booked in advance. There are lots of "biz" travel that is very price sensitive. Going to a Co-op interview, NGOs, even a lot of government travel is by train.

Government train travel is on Via 1, which is not really cheaper than flying. There would also be about 5 hours of overtime attached to this routing assume they are expecting to work at 9. Any manager that authorized this should be fired.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

I read somewhere that the reinstatement of Train 641 is mainly to appease GTA-bound commuters from Kingston, whose elected officials have been clamouring about this service since it was suspended. The new Challenger sets cannot berth overnight in Kingston so they must depart from Ottawa. As others have said, ridership will likely be pretty sparse between Ottawa and Kingston given the ungodly departure time. Most OTT-TOR biz travel that needs to arrive by 9am simply flies.

That makes sense.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Government train travel is on Via 1, which is not really cheaper than flying. There would also be about 5 hours of overtime attached to this routing assume they are expecting to work at 9. Any manager that authorized this should be fired.

Not sure about the core public service, but lots of organizations have green travel guidelines that prioritize train travel. Also, Via 1 is the standard because it includes meals, which mitigates travel costs.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by phil235

Not sure about the core public service, but lots of organizations have green travel guidelines that prioritize train travel. Also, Via 1 is the standard because it includes meals, which mitigates travel costs.

A Via 1 ticket is about $100 more than economy one way. A lunch allowance is $25. That is not a cost savings.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by acottawa

A Via 1 ticket is about $100 more than economy one way. A lunch allowance is $25. That is not a cost savings.

True, not a savings over economy, but it widens the gap with flying. And dinner is $62, which makes a bigger dent. It's also much easier to work on the train, so there is a balancing out.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by acottawa

A Via 1 ticket is about $100 more than economy one way. A lunch allowance is $25. That is not a cost savings.

Dummy booking. Its $50 for economy and $100 for business (edit I guess there is a sale right now so $130 and $75 would be normal prices). Leaving at 4:20 you are leaving your house at 3:30. The Porter flight is $350. Departs at 7:15. Need to be there at 6 or really 5:45. Most would depart at 5:15 with $10 more so an extra hour. Breakfast is maybe $20? So it saves $270 in travel costs and costs an hour in overtime. Seems like decent value.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Dummy booking. Its $50 for economy and $100 for business (edit I guess there is a sale right now so $130 and $75 would be normal prices). Leaving at 4:20 you are leaving your house at 3:30. The Porter flight is $350. Departs at 7:15. Need to be there at 6 or really 5:45. Most would depart at 5:15 with $10 more so an extra hour. Breakfast is maybe $20? So it saves $270 in travel costs and costs an hour in overtime. Seems like decent value.

Why are you getting to the airport 90 minutes before departure for a domestic flight? Realistically you are leaving the house two hours later, that is $150 in extra overtime for a pretty generic bureaucrat salary. Plus the employee is getting two hours more sleep.

[Truenorth00]

For military travel, we're always offered VIA 1 in the Corridor, in lieu of air travel or mileage. We don't get overtime though. So if we're traveling longer than a weekday or after work, that's just part of the job.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

For military travel, we're always offered VIA 1 in the Corridor, in lieu of air travel or mileage. We don't get overtime though. So if we're traveling longer than a weekday or after work, that's just part of the job.

There is also the 25% discount.

[rdaner]

I know that the VIA morning train from London to Union has people standing as it gets closer to the city and is essentially a commuter service.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by rdaner

I know that the VIA morning train from London to Union has people standing as it gets closer to the city and is essentially a commuter service.

Leaving for work at 6:20 and 4:20 are pretty different categories.

[Horus]

There seems to be a lot of overlooking of VIA's atrocious on-time record. I would not want to have to depend on this train getting to Toronto before 9am.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

There is also the 25% discount.

That's for personal travel. Corporate travel is booked through the agent. Not by us. We simply give our preferences on the travel approval request.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Why are you getting to the airport 90 minutes before departure for a domestic flight? Realistically you are leaving the house two hours later, that is $150 in extra overtime for a pretty generic bureaucrat salary. Plus the employee is getting two hours more sleep.

To be fair, baggage drop closes 45 mins before departure for domestic and check in closes half an hour before departure. So really, if you have a bag, you should be getting there at least an hour before departure. If it's same day return with carry-on, then less than an hour is alright. I feel like most people with a 7:15 departure and a checked bag, would probably aim to get there around 6am just to be safe.

In this case, honestly I don't think many people are taking the train from Ottawa. It just starts here because the train and crews are based here. Their target audience is mostly down the line. There will probably be some cheap seats from Ottawa on that train. Especially for the destinations before Cobourg.