Canadian Border Crossing General Topic

Don't expect the Adirondack, Maple Leaf or Cascades crossing the Border anytime soon. The Prime Minister says the Border may stay closed well into 2021.

"Canada will not agree to lifting a ban on non-essential travel with the United States until the coronavirus outbreak is significantly under control around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday"

https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN28B5FY

David Benton wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:46 pm

WashingtonPark wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:18 am

David Benton wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:16 pm Contact tracing seems to be what is making the difference here. Every train carriage now has its own tracing qr. Quick testing helps but you need to be able to find that person's contact s fast to isolate it.

It's going to be a long time before borders open for AMTRAK with this kind of stuff going on in Niagara Falls. Contact tracing can't be done in this type of situation. https://www.chch.com/another-crowded-we ... ara-falls/

There are bluetooth apps that trace everyone with a bluetooth device that you come with in range of . It then alerts if one later test positive. Proposed but not used here. Before someone screams privacy , the data does not leave your device.

I use such an app set up by NYS. Still have yet to get pinged, its easy to use takes about 10 seconds a day to check in.

In other news CN and Amtrak are working at getting a special train set up for T&E in Albany to keep up their qualifications to Montreal QC. No dates as of yet, so wish in one and and $#!t in the other see which fills up first. Soon those who went north wont be able either regular assignments or extra list. Your qualifications only last a year

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:39 amIn other news CN and Amtrak are working at getting a special train set up for T&E in Albany to keep up their qualifications to Montreal QC. No dates as of yet. Soon those who went north wont be able either regular assignments or extra list. Your qualifications only last a year

If it's a sealed train with a quick turnaround, it might be feasible, and not trigger quarantines.

JimBoylan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 11:13 pm

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:39 amIn other news CN and Amtrak are working at getting a special train set up for T&E in Albany to keep up their qualifications to Montreal QC. No dates as of yet. Soon those who went north wont be able either regular assignments or extra list. Your qualifications only last a year

If it's a sealed train with a quick turnaround, it might be feasible, and not trigger quarantines.

If there's nobody on/off, both governments cleared, pre-quarantined and tested... it can be pulled off. Lots of logistics to go through.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:42 am

JimBoylan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 11:13 pm

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:39 amIn other news CN and Amtrak are working at getting a special train set up for T&E in Albany to keep up their qualifications to Montreal QC. No dates as of yet. Soon those who went north wont be able either regular assignments or extra list. Your qualifications only last a year

If it's a sealed train with a quick turnaround, it might be feasible, and not trigger quarantines.

If there's nobody on/off, both governments cleared, pre-quarantined and tested... it can be pulled off. Lots of logistics to go through.

Got to thinking this wouldn't be a single day round trip. There would have to be multiple trips made with social distancing protocols and all. Your talking a lot of people 20 to 30 engineers and at least that many conductors. The Rutland VT trips took a couple of weeks as an example.

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:40 am

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:42 amIf there's nobody on/off, both governments cleared, pre-quarantined and tested... it can be pulled off. Lots of logistics to go through.

Got to thinking this wouldn't be a single day round trip. There would have to be multiple trips made with social distancing protocols and all. Your talking a lot of people 20 to 30 engineers and at least that many conductors. The Rutland VT trips took a couple of weeks as an example.

Yeah, I think it would have to involve quarantine per Canadian border patrol policy. Maybe even a two-week quarantine at a training facility like Wilmington, closed to other Amtrak staff. Take it as an opportunity to do some training and maybe familiarize the crews with Avelia Liberty.

The Border has never been closed to essential travel since the pandemic started. Many freight trains and trucks still cross every day as well as essential workers. Look at the number of Canadian Nurses/Health Care workers that live in Windsor and cross everyday to work in Detroit area Hospitals.

Perhaps re-qualifying Amtrak engineers/conductors will be considered essential......same as CN & CP engineers that still cross every day.

It would certainly require multiple trips. They tried cutting corners on the Point Defiance Bypass in Washington State by qualifying a bunch of people on one train and we saw what that led to.

I would think the chances of 2 different government s agreeing on the protocols required to allow this would be very slim.
Is it more work to reinstate route qualifications after they have expired?

David Benton wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:07 pm I would think the chances of 2 different government s agreeing on the protocols required to allow this would be very slim.

Seems those protocols are already in place.....

“since March Canada has admitted approximately 5.3 million, most of them essential workers, who have been exempted from the mandatory 14-day quarantine”

A normal year would see about 40 million people crossing or about 300,000 every day.

Http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/the-canad ... s-1.999207

That does surprise me , I won't say more , as the mods don't want us discussing covid-19 issues.
At least that is one less thing for Amtrak to worry about.

Looks like no service to Canada until 2022.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/amtrak ... -1.6252614

On the surface it seems like Amtrak and others apparently didn't plan for the re-opening of the border. Crew shortages play some role in this delay, of course.

"The Maple Leaf and Adirondack trains use Amtrak rail equipment but are staffed by VIA Rail Canada crews" — This as we know is a negative. Maple Leaf splits crews at Niagara Falls Canada and the Adirondack is completely Amtrak. Have not heard anything on the Maple Leaf going back to Toronto but crews have started getting requalified back to Montreal. Figure a February start of service for what sounds like Fri Sat Sun only service to start.

Amtrak is to be running crew quallification trains through the border on the cascades until I believe this or next Friday.