For years now riding VIA Rail’s Canadian has been more about the experience than arriving on time. A lot more, in fact. Even your boarding pass for VIA’s flagship warns that you shouldn’t book same-day connections at your destination. But things seem to be changing. As part of its effort to run its freights closer […]
The Canadian customs agent checks your passport and gives you a puzzled look when you explain that you just landed in Vancouver so that you can head to Toronto tomorrow. The poor young chap cannot wrap his head around the concept of taking VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian 2,800 miles simply for the fun of it. […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada has issued a formal request for information from potential manufacturers of locomotives and passenger cars who might be interested in re-equipping the company’s long distance and regional remote passenger trains. VIA’s appeal comes as Amtrak is evaluating responses received from a similar invitation [see “Amtrak seeks carbuilder interest …,” Trains […]
MONTREAL — After two days of cancellations, VIA Rail Canada will resume service on the Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal portions of its corridors today (Tuesday, Dec. 27), albeit with a modified schedule combining trains. All trains on those corridor routes were canceled both Dec. 25 and Dec. 26 because of the derailment of a Canadian National […]
MONTREAL — For a second straight day, VIA Rail Canada has canceled all scheduled corridor service on its Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal routes. An advisory on the VIA web page lists 29 trains as canceled today (Monday, Dec. 26) because of the “ongoing impact of the CN train derailment which occurred on Dec. 24.” The Toronto […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada has cancelled all 25 trains scheduled to operate on Christmas Day on its Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal routes following a derailment earlier today (Dec. 24), the passenger operator has announced on its website. The derailment reportedly involved a Canadian National train, blocking all tracks in Kingston, Ontario, according to the Toronto […]
Trains News Wire continues our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t make that list. Today: Passenger rail. Service expansion, VIA Rail […]
Budd Rail Diesel Car DVD | 16124 From the publishers of Classic Trains magazine, this all-new, documentary-style DVD traces the history of the unique railroad passenger vehicles all the way through to today’s current operations. Watch a sneak peek of the footage included in the 75 minute DVD, and then head to the kalmbachhobbystore.com website […]
As we enter the holidays and highball into 2023, the MR staff wanted to take a look back at our top model railroad products of 2022. Any of these would make great gifts for any modeler on your Christmas list or even for yourself. Athearn added the General Electric Dash 9-44CW to its Genesis 2.0 […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada on Thursday announced creation of a new wholly owned subsidiary, VIA HFR, to manage development of the High Frequency Rail project for service between Toronto and Quebec City, and to act as a dedicated project office. VIA has appointed the three founding members of the VIA HFR board: Robert Prichard, who […]
MONTREAL — Information technology and business consulting firm CGI will manage a new online reservation system for VIA Rail Canada to be launched in 2023, the companies announced Wednesday. Under a long-term agreement, CGI will manage critical business applications, building on the business relationship that began in 2020 when CGI was selected to build VIA’s […]
WASHINGTON AND MONTREAL — U.S. and Canadian national passenger rail operators are joining the Black Friday markdown blitz for travel beginning as early as next week and as late as June 30, 2023, depending upon the route. For both Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, the deals are available only through Monday, Nov. 29, at midnight. […]
