exvalley wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 9:48 am
bdawe wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 9:26 am
Sure, but when you were already losing $600 a ticket for the Canadian in the first place and hemorrhaging money elsewhere, management in Montreal might be looking for an excuse not to open up that expense if they don't have to.
Now that actually makes sense. Or more specifically, if you truly believe that summer bookings will remain extremely low - which is a reasonable assumption. After all, summer is the most profitable season.
The problem with this approach is that it reinforces that train travel is not a public necessity. This is in stark contrast to the approach that Amtrak is taking, whether or not Amtrak's hands were tied due to funding requirements.
If the Ocean never returns, I will be sad that I came so close, yet so far from riding it.
A friend who has no computer asked me to check summer bookings for the Canadian - just out of curiosity. The day before VIA cancelled the Canadian until November I checked about 15 randomly selected days. In July and August just about every day I checked was sold out in sleepers, although Prestige was available on many of them. In September, there were several days with some berths and cabins available but Prestige was sold out on most of those days.
With the border closed to non-essential travel for the foreseeable future and the requirement for 14 days of quarantine for those who do enter Canada it was apparent this busy summer season wasn't likely to go as planned. (At the time I write this the US-Canada border closure has been extended until 21 July. The Prime Minister has previously said he will keep it closed for months if necessary.)
A few days ago VIA announced that the Canadian will resume in November, but only for Economy class. Sleeper Plus and Prestige will start in January. Strangely, Reservia is still offering sleeper space for November and December. I have been in touch with two people at VIA and the word is that existing reservations for sleeping cars are still valid - at least for the time being. No new bookings can be made, despite what it appears to indicate on Reservia. A decision will be made later and we have been advised to hold on to our bookings. We can, of course, cancel if we wish to due to this uncertainty.