I can’t imagine commuting with Via Rail. As someone using Via once in a while, I don’t think it’s more expensive than it was. If anything sometimes you can get some accepable deals if you reserve a few weeks in advance. But it sure is absolutely overpriced of you are last minute. It’s $50 if I want to see my family tomorrow even if there are still seats in the train, but $25 if I plan the visit a week or two in advance.
It’s the whole problem with their pricing system. They don’t see themselves as a replacement for cars. You can’t get a monthly pass for Via. They see themselves as a tourist attraction.
And unlike other rich countries, we don’t even have regional trains. It could also help to have more than 5 trains a day. But again, they don’t want to be a commuter service.
Sometimes I wish Exo and GO trains would cover Via rail routes in their respective provinces. It would be so much more convenient for everyone. And with Alto eventually coming, will Via ever be improved?
It’s definitely overpriced for what it is. The trains are often late and share the same tracks as CN or other freight trains which have priority. It’s so dumb. And it’s slow as he’ll.
Canada needs to invest in expanding the network and providing exclusive tracks.
Rail companies have to pay property taxes on the rails, trucking companies don’t have to pay property taxes on the roads. This was done to ensure trucking is cheaper than rail.
Don’t be so sure about the taxes thing; CN was around before Canada, they have some pretty weird privileges, like right of ways that supercede municpalities and their own police force.
best we can do is give away billions to car companies who consistently fail to deliver the promised benefits
But think of the jobs?
yes, of course that’s going to be a big thing. You cannot tell me your against investments into sectors that will provide jobs (not talking about these two of course but in general)?
Canada’s passenger rail network in 1955 and 1980. It’s gotten worse since then. Privatizing the rail network, then cut after cut after cut of the passenger service’s funding. Carney is further slashing it so tickets are likely going to rise.
True nation building projects would be increase rail service or anything that makes it easier to travel around Canada, festivals, cultural events, an inner-Canada student exchange (or something for adults), retaking third spaces, etc. Projects that make people connect and enjoy being Canadian. Instead we get fucking resource extraction as the economy trumps everything.
Retaking third places as in private equiry buying them up right? 🥹
In true Liberal fashion.
That’s my big issue with VIA, it’s not even the price (which for the record is getting to be a lot), it’s the fact that you can’t actually rely on it. Usually it’s Ok, and you are within the projected hour, but it’s a single line you are usually on, those freight trains are a huge issue and everything but you get’s priority. I’d never consider VIA cross country unless I was ok with +/- 2 or 3 days.
I’m mostly familiar with trains in Germany and I know a comparison is unfair, but it seems like we’re missing an entire part of a coherent transit system.
We have Via trains, that can loosely be compared to Inter-city trains. Long distance between cities and more expensive. We also have commuter trains like GO and Exo that serves a metro area and all the suburbs around. They are cheaper (subsidized), you can get a monthly pass, no seat reservation, and they are more frequent (than Via trains).
But we have nothing akin to regional rail. I’ll just quote a definition from Wikipedia:
I understand the people complaining in the article, but as someone without a car, I also rolled up my eyes and thought ‘but what did they expect from Via?’ Exo and GO trains are specifically for commuting but they don’t reach them. Relying on last minutes tickets from Via for commuting is, IMHO, a bit insane. They are missing a regional train. Right now our society expects them to drive their car (electric!) to Oshawa then use GO, if they want to commute by train.
We are missing regional trains in Québec too. It’s equally stupid that someone can go from Montréal to the end of an Exo train line for $10 while the next city with Via would cost triple that, and with less departures. There’s also two rail lines between Montréal and Sherbrooke. Both are used for freight, but no passenger trains. I’m still salty about this one because the little town where I grew up, on one of those lines, had passenger trains for more than a century before being cut by Paul Martin in the 90ies.
Beyond the recurring issues that you mentioned with the priorities and the lack of tracks, neither our provinces nor the federal government have any cohesive plan for transit. It’s either by city and metro region, or Inter-city with Via or coach. Nothing in between. Even if we give priority to passenger trains, we’re stuck with a ginormous car culture that says trains and buses are a waste of taxpayers money. I would really love to see more investment than just in Alto, even if it’s still a good thing, but I’m afraid Via is going to stagnate for a while longer.
You know our train system is unreliable when DB is an example of how to do it better…
It’s just what I’ve used most outside of Canada. But yeah, not just DB. We’re missing a lot of the “train culture” present in Germany and other rich countries, and that is reflected in local and political will.
Like, as much as there is also a thriving car culture in Germany, and the reputation of DB (also somewhat justified), there’s actually more than a handful of people that thinks having passenger trains in their towns and cities is a necessity. And there’s even actions taken to reopen some lines that were previously closed! YouTube is sometimes suggesting me videos of train route reactivation in Germany, and it’s incredible to see the will of the people to have a passenger train back in their villages, and the positive(!) comments.
Meanwhile in Canada any attempt at maintaining current rail service, let alone reviving passenger trains in smaller towns, or even cities, will be met with apathy by most people.
You mean regional rail like this?
And this?
That’s from 1955.
This is kinda what the REM is supposed to be from what I understand. It has its own dedicated tracks and connects suburban commuters to Montreal.
The REM solves the issue of dedicated tracks, but it’s a light rail stuck to a core metropolitan region, because it’s “for profit”. It wouldn’t reach the people complaining in the article, because they are too far, and not profitable.
Plus, the financing method for the REM, a public-private partnership, is cannibalizing public transit in the Montréal region. It has a non-compete clause with public transit, because profit.
The REM is not a model to follow.
You bring good points, the REM isn’t perfect, and it is kinda weird that it’s half-private.