Canadian in September

(1)I am riding "THE CANADIAN" Eastbound from Vancouver to Toronto on January 23-27, 2009: an annual winter trip.

(2)In the event of a derailment on the CN mainline east of Winnipeg, will CP allow a detour move between Winnipeg and Sudbury Junction? Can Canadian law compel CP to accept the VIA train whether it wants to or not? Some years ago, I detoured on VIA #2 via CP from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay; then on a CN secondary freight line from there to Longlac, where we rejoined the CN mainline. However, the CN line up to Longlac is reported as being out-of-service for several years now. My biggest regret on the detour was turning north at Nipigon, and missing the gorgeous lakefront scenery along the CP mainline from there to Heron Bay. The politician fools, led by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (now a fat-cat corporate lawyer), who killed a CP-routed "CANADIAN" on January 15, 1990 should be forever enshrined in the "Railroad Hall of Shame."

(3)With the new 4-night schedule in effect from early December, 2008, I presume that there is a lot more leeway at VIA in deciding whether to "bustitute" from Capreol or fly passengers east from Winnipeg to Toronto in the event of a major CN mainline disruption east of Winnipeg. I am certainly not paying to fly from North Carolina to Vancouver, and paying VIA a lot more additional money to ride #2 from there to Toronto, in order to wind-up on a wretched bus ANYWHERE.

This actually recently happened. A CN derailment occurred just east of Sioux Lookout. When the eastbound arrived into Sioux Lookout to learn the fate, they put the engines on the rear and pulled the train back to Winnipeg where they flew the passengers from Winnipeg to Toronto. It seems the "CPR detours" may be a thing of the past!

I appreciate the concerns of DonPevsner. An astonishing number of Canadian railfans think buses are a splendid form of transportation and feel that VIA has a right to bustitute for any reason they choose. I am one Canadian "rail travel fan" who does not subscribe to that piffle. I have been on several VIA bustitutions ranging from 2 1/2 to 12 hours and every one was disgusting.

Starting in December the Canadian will be on a four-night schedule to Toronto. It is frequently on that right now, thanks to CN, but it will be official by then! It will take four consists to run that service. Presently it takes three, but a fourth consist is kept in Vancouver and is regularly used, even if the Canadian should arrive there on time. A while back this fourth set was kept as a back-up in case it was needed to ensure an on time departure from Vancouver, but it is now slotted into the cycle. If there is no fifth consist kept as a back-up in Toronto, there could be big problems with this four-night schedule. The turn-around time in Toronto will be an hour shorter than at present. If VIA uses buses to get people from Capreol to Toronto that should be a day trip. But the new departure time from Toronto is listed as 10:00 p.m. and I don't see how VIA will be able to justify charging people up to $2,000 in summer for a single room (roomette) and tell them they are spending the first night on a stinking bus and the reason for that is: "Mercy, the train was late." A fifth consist shouldn't be too hard to put together in winter, but in summer it would mean much shorter trains.

A good friend of mine in Winnipeg, a retired VIA manager, made some enquiries a couple of years ago and found out that CP simply refused to allow the Canadian to be rerouted on their track. They did, however, accept CN freight. I have no knowledge of whether CP refused to help VIA at the time of the most recent derailment as referred to by jp1822.

But the odds are very good that you will make it to Toronto by train.