VIA Rail

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I guess cash is not legal tender anymore, or have we forgotten this legality?

That is highly illegal. You CANNOT refuse legal tender except the gov't/cc do it because they can get away with it.

[Urban_Sky]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

That is highly illegal. You CANNOT refuse legal tender except the gov't/cc do it because they can get away with it.

Why don‘t you contact the Bank of Canada to inform them of your personal and highly subjective interpretation of the laws rather than inconveniencing us with your (incorrect) layman‘s opinions?

Can stores refuse my money? Your COVID-19 cash questions answered

[…]

Is it legal for a store to refuse my cash?

More businesses are going cashless during the COVID-19 pandemic and are asking customers to use debit, credit or app payments as a precautionary measure.

But some readers, such as Samar D., are asking if it's legal for a retailer to reject payment in cash.

The short answer is yes, a store can refuse to take cash. But it's a little more complicated than that.

The Bank of Canada says it's up to sellers to determine what kinds of payment they will accept for transactions, and there is "no law" that would require anyone to accept bank notes or any other form of payment for a commercial transaction.

Update: Bank of Canada asks retailers to continue accepting cash

[…]

Cash acceptance

We encourage Canadians to use the method of payment that they are the most comfortable with. However, the Bank strongly advocates that retailers continue to accept cash to ensure Canadians have access to the goods and services they need. Refusing cash purchases outright will put an undue burden on those who depend on cash and have limited payment options.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

That is highly illegal. You CANNOT refuse legal tender except the gov't/cc do it because they can get away with it.

That isn’t even remotely true and never has been.

[TorontoDrew]

Test Run by Nicoli OZ Mathews, on Flickr

[Nouvellecosse]

From the front it reminds me of the talent 2.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

From the front it reminds me of the talent 2.

That is actually the back as it is the closest car is the Cab Car and the locomotive is at the other end. It certainly is a very European looking design, which is nice.

[GreatTallNorth2]

The Minister of Transportation, Omar Alghabra is in Windsor today to make an announcement on something related to Via Rail.

https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/08/30...orridor/379944

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

The Minister of Transportation, Omar Alghabra is in Windsor today to make an announcement on something related to Via Rail.

https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/08/30...orridor/379944

And it was a total non announcement- “we are hiring an advisor to look at the needs of Southwestern Ontario, with a report due by late 2023”. Yawn

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

And it was a total non announcement- “we are hiring an advisor to look at the needs of Southwestern Ontario, with a report due by late 2023”. Yawn

Why would you expect anything more? At least they aren't doing it right before an election. So progress.....

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Why would you expect anything more? At least they aren't doing it right before an election. So progress.....

Call me naïve lol.

[hipster duck]

Too bad the announcement wasn’t “we are handing over all operations southwest of Toronto to Metrolinx”.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

And it was a total non announcement- “we are hiring an advisor to look at the needs of Southwestern Ontario, with a report due by late 2023”. Yawn

This cabinet slays me. I thought big infrastructure projects was all the rage in 2015? There is so much to be done but they seem to be hamstrung by indecision!

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Too bad the announcement wasn’t “we are handing over all operations southwest of Toronto to Metrolinx”.

Ya, like the citizens of Windsor and London need more Toronto-centric politicians to tell them what's good for them.

The last thing SWO needs is another ML decision of thinking that the only place anyone would ever go is Toronto and all commuters must be going to Toronto because London and Windsor have none of their own.

If ML were in charge they would extend the GO "service" to Windsor so they can catch a lone 2:00 AM train to Toronto and get there is just 8 hours and then a quick 8 hours back on the only train returning so they can get back to Windsor at midnight.

[swimmer_spe]

.... late night thinking leads to this....

Remember how Amtrak announced it may bring back passenger service to Chicago- Toronto?
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/new-passe...lity-1.5568152
This will sort of matter in a few...


For a while, I was wondering whether Amtrak ever crossed into Mexico. So, down that rabbit hole I went. It turns out prior to 1981, there was a connection to Mexico With the Inter-American train. Prior to the 1960s, you could stay on a train to Mexico City called the Texas Eagle ran by the Missouri Pacific and Texas Pacific railways, as well as the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México in Mexico. There is a current Texas Eagle that runs between Chicago and San Antonio daily and continues to Los Angeles 3x a week

So, what do the 2 matter? Well, if the Chicago - Toronto route was put in place by Amtrak, and if there was ever a desire to reconnect to Mexico by rail, and they used the existing Texas Eagle route, they could extend the Texas Eagle from San Antonio up to 4x a week when it does not continue to Las Angeles to Mexico City. That would mean you could ride 2 trains and get from Toronto to Mexico City.

Yeah, yea, I know, it will never happen. However, it does have me wonder whether it should happen, and why it won't.

(I shall get out of the rabbit hole.... till the next time.)

[J.OT13]

• Video Link

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

• Video Link

When the next ones come online, will they be tested like this one was?
How long after this first one comes online can we expect Via to hold on to the worn out equipment it is replacing?

[sseguin]

• Video Link

The Start of a New Era: First Day in Service of VIA Rail Canada’s New Siemens Venture Fleet

For the first time in over 20 years, VIA Rail Canada welcomes the first train of a brand-new fleet to serve passengers in the Corridor.

On November 8, 2022, Train 33 and 26 saw the very first revenue runs of the new Siemens Venture trainsets between Ottawa and Montreal. Those new trains are fully accessible and a major upgrade compared to the existing fleet used by VIA Rail.

Join us on one of the very first revenue runs on the new VIA trains. We are really excited for the future of passenger rail in Canada and look forward to more opportunities to ride them in the future.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

.... late night thinking leads to this....

Remember how Amtrak announced it may bring back passenger service to Chicago- Toronto?
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/new-passe...lity-1.5568152
This will sort of matter in a few...


For a while, I was wondering whether Amtrak ever crossed into Mexico. So, down that rabbit hole I went. It turns out prior to 1981, there was a connection to Mexico With the Inter-American train. Prior to the 1960s, you could stay on a train to Mexico City called the Texas Eagle ran by the Missouri Pacific and Texas Pacific railways, as well as the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México in Mexico. There is a current Texas Eagle that runs between Chicago and San Antonio daily and continues to Los Angeles 3x a week

So, what do the 2 matter? Well, if the Chicago - Toronto route was put in place by Amtrak, and if there was ever a desire to reconnect to Mexico by rail, and they used the existing Texas Eagle route, they could extend the Texas Eagle from San Antonio up to 4x a week when it does not continue to Las Angeles to Mexico City. That would mean you could ride 2 trains and get from Toronto to Mexico City.

Yeah, yea, I know, it will never happen. However, it does have me wonder whether it should happen, and why it won't.

(I shall get out of the rabbit hole.... till the next time.)

Funny enough I was thinking about the same thing recently.

The biggest challenge in Mexico is that they dumped all passenger rail in 1997 (except for tourist trains such as the Copper Canyon train), so their railways are 100% dedicated to freight - an even worse situation than Canada or the US. However Mexico City's main railway station is still standing and is used by a suburban commuter train route, so at least there is still infrastructure in place. Some medium-size cities that had passenger rail as recently as the early 90s have had railway lines removed completely - not unlike Canadian cities like Fredericton or Pembroke.

There has been talk of extending San Diego's MTS Trolley service across the border to Tijuana, so if that happens it will be theoretically possible to travel by rail from Vancouver to Mexico.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by sseguin

• Video Link

The Start of a New Era: First Day in Service of VIA Rail Canada’s New Siemens Venture Fleet

For the first time in over 20 years, VIA Rail Canada welcomes the first train of a brand-new fleet to serve passengers in the Corridor.

On November 8, 2022, Train 33 and 26 saw the very first revenue runs of the new Siemens Venture trainsets between Ottawa and Montreal. Those new trains are fully accessible and a major upgrade compared to the existing fleet used by VIA Rail.

Join us on one of the very first revenue runs on the new VIA trains. We are really excited for the future of passenger rail in Canada and look forward to more opportunities to ride them in the future.

This is great news!
My thinking is that the worst cars will be decommissioned first.
I am wondering about the ones that are not completely finished. The Siemens fleet will be enough for the Corridor service. Could the old cars be used elsewhere or for augmentation of the existing Corridor service?

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Funny enough I was thinking about the same thing recently.

The biggest challenge in Mexico is that they dumped all passenger rail in 1997 (except for tourist trains such as the Copper Canyon train), so their railways are 100% dedicated to freight - an even worse situation than Canada or the US. However Mexico City's main railway station is still standing and is used by a suburban commuter train route, so at least there is still infrastructure in place. Some medium-size cities that had passenger rail as recently as the early 90s have had railway lines removed completely - not unlike Canadian cities like Fredericton or Pembroke.

There has been talk of extending San Diego's MTS Trolley service across the border to Tijuana, so if that happens it will be theoretically possible to travel by rail from Vancouver to Mexico.

Welcome to the rabbit hole.

People talk of European rail as a good thing, but the thing they quickly forget is that it connects countries. Canada at least has 3 lines that do that.
With Mexico, I wonder how welcoming the freight would be for a line to Mexico City to connect passenger service in Texas.

[J.OT13]

• Video Link