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Discussion of Canadian Passenger Rail Services such as AMT (Montreal), Go Transit (Toronto), VIA Rail, and other Canadian Railways and Transit

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 #1432001  by Mark0f0
 
Maybe someday they can do up a Prestige Skyline car or something like that...

The rear "coffee shop" area, which is basically just tables and chairs, is kind of bland and useless. Seating like as in that bullet lounge depiction, would be nice. Especially since they don't want passengers (except Prestige) in the Bullet Lounge area in the daytime anymore.
 #1432006  by Miss Chief
 
It sure looks nice!

If it's only available to prestige customer it does make a skyline much more important.
 #1432095  by NS VIA FAN
 
Miss Chief wrote:It sure looks nice!

If it's only available to prestige customer.........
No....Sleeper Plus passengers can also use the Prestige Park Car except during some restricted times during the Peak SummerSseason and even then.....it's restricted only during certain times of the day.

For 2017.....between Apr 30 and Oct 22:

"Starting April 30, 2017, during peak season, access to the Prestige Park Car will be limited to scheduled times for Sleeper Plus passengers. Sleeper Plus passengers will be able to access the Prestige Park car on the following schedule: from 2:00PM until last call 10:30PM, with the exception of evenings upon departure from Toronto and Vancouver where access will be exclusive to Prestige passengers. *Scheduled access times are subject to change"

Even in the Dome.... only some seats are reserved for Prestige Passengers

"A select number of seats in the Prestige Park car are reserved for our Prestige passengers at all times in the scenic dome (year-round")

http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/m ... -amenities" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1432196  by Miss Chief
 
As long as I can still check it out and more importantly still have access to a dome, I will be fine. I do like to check out the rail fan window though.

I suppose after spending all that money they now need to attract more prestige passengers to pay for it.
 #1432299  by marquisofmississauga
 
NS VIA FAN wrote:
Miss Chief wrote:It sure looks nice!

If it's only available to prestige customer.........
No....Sleeper Plus passengers can also use the Prestige Park Car except during some restricted times during the Peak SummerSseason and even then.....it's restricted only during certain times of the day.

For 2017.....between Apr 30 and Oct 22:

"Starting April 30, 2017, during peak season, access to the Prestige Park Car will be limited to scheduled times for Sleeper Plus passengers. Sleeper Plus passengers will be able to access the Prestige Park car on the following schedule: from 2:00PM until last call 10:30PM, with the exception of evenings upon departure from Toronto and Vancouver where access will be exclusive to Prestige passengers. *Scheduled access times are subject to change"

Even in the Dome.... only some seats are reserved for Prestige Passengers

"A select number of seats in the Prestige Park car are reserved for our Prestige passengers at all times in the scenic dome (year-round")

http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/m ... -amenities" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
For several months VIA's amenities comparison chart has indicated that peak season (for Park car access, that is, not for fares) runs from April 30 until Oct. 12. When searching fares on Reservia, a notice pops up advising of the restrictions starting "April 30 2017 in peak season" but does not give the end of peak season. This Reservia notice appears right until the end of the year, implying that the restrictions are in effect on the date chosen. I contacted VIA customer service for a clarification because there is no way that peak season runs through November and December. VIA agreed that this notice was ambiguous, given what appears in the amenities section, and said it would be corrected within a week. That was two months ago and it has not been amended.

VIA's rep. went on to further clarify the end of peak season for Park car access and gave the date of Oct. 17. As of today it still shows the 12th on amenities. I discovered that this year the peak summer fares run until the end of October instead of the 22nd as in previous years.

The redesigned Prestige Park car did not appeal to me from the photos, but on my first trip it looked better and the seating is comfortable. I miss the etched glass wall separating the Mural Lounge from the corridor, but the crew like it because the working space behind the bar has been doubled. There are seats in this under-dome space for only six passengers as opposed to 12 in the regular Park car. I find the seats to be comfortable in the rear lounge but the place for drinks is rather shallow and I was always fearful of the drink tipping over. At least there is a place to rest a drink. The heavy drink stands (and former ashtrays) have been removed from the non-Prestige Park cars. They have been deemed a safety hazard, although I have never known one to tip over. There must be 20 pounds of metal in the base. But I concede in a derailment they could become projectiles.

On three of my Vancouver - Toronto trips (one in March and two in November) there were no Prestige passengers. Some of the "goodies" normally served in the Park car only for Prestige were given to us regular sleeper people rather than have the food go to waste. It was a nice gesture, but I really couldn't handle a platter of cheese and fruit (on one afternoon) or a platter of hors d'oeuvres and crudités (on another).
 #1432329  by NS VIA FAN
 
Rockingham Racer wrote:Seems to me that April 30 is awfully early to be "peak season".
Tell that to those riding the 20 car 'Canadians' right now with 12 sleepers.