Potenital Route Calgary-Vancouver and Hailfax to Syndey, NS

I was thinking a couple potential Routes they are Calgary to Vancouver and Halifax to Syndey, NS those 2 could be very good routes and could get a ton of People.

AmtrakFan

AmtrakFan wrote:I was thinking a couple potential Routes they are Calgary to Vancouver and Halifax to Syndey, NS those 2 could be very good routes and could get a ton of People.

AmtrakFan

There is already a Halifax to Sydney seasonal route, aimed at tourists. It's a day excursion, and you return the following day.

I doubt that route would see much commercial success as far as a regular scheduled passenger route.

-Chris

I was thinking of another how about an Overnight Ottawa to Toronto and a couple of Calgary to Edmonton Round Trips a Day.

AmtrakFan

Chriskay wrote:

There is already a Halifax to Sydney seasonal route, aimed at tourists. It's a day excursion, and you return the following day.

I doubt that route would see much commercial success as far as a regular scheduled passenger route.

-Chris

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Don’t know about the current potential for a Halifax-Sydney service but prior to it being cut in Jan. 1990 this was one of the few runs that were close to break-even. Always running with 2 or 3 well patronized RDC units. A lot of the passengers connected to and from the Montreal trains at Truro.

At the time of the cuts in Jan 1990, Acadian Lines (Bus) thought they would pick up a lot of the passengers and started to stop at the VIA Station in Truro to connected with the Montreal trains. There were some passengers but not nearly the numbers that had been riding the trains: They just started driving or stayed home.

Even running once a week, I’m sure there would be passengers who would ride the Bras d’Or (pronounced: Bra Door) Next year VIA is planning on two trips a week each way and if one of these were scheduled over a week-end I sure there would be a lot of locals, not just tourists riding. VIA can run the Skeena with a mixture of locals and tourists. Don’t see why they can’t with the Bras d’Or also.

Unlike the Skeena, the Bras D'Or does not offer basic coach transportation. This makes it unique in the VIA system: Firstly, it is the only train offering only "first class" service and the only train that does not make any intermediate stops for entraining or detraining passengers. (We won't quibble over the Toronto-Montreal express as it makes one suburban stop at Dorval.)

Our family had a fabulous round trip on the Bras D'Or in mid-June. The passenger loads were quite low (50 eastbound and 30 westbound) and this provided a great deal of space in the Skyline and Park cars. The fare, while very reasonable for the standard of service, is probably a bit steep for most people who might use the train as transportation. Perhaps VIA could run a local coach at modest fares and make a few stops at major towns en route. As on the Skeena, access to the lounges would be restricted to those paying the premium fare.

marquisofmississauga wrote:As on the Skeena, access to the lounges would be restricted to those paying the premium fare.

For the Skeena, I thought this was only true in high-season; I think anyone can use the lounge in low-season.

Another reason I could see this route not working (Halifax/Truro-Sydney) is that apparently the rail is in quite poor shape. My father recently took a trip on the Bras D'or, and there were many sections where the train barely crawled along. He works for CN and spoke with some of his colleagues who work for the rail company in that area, and was told that some of the rail really needs an overhaul.

-Chris

downbeat wrote:

marquisofmississauga wrote:As on the Skeena, access to the lounges would be restricted to those paying the premium fare.

For the Skeena, I thought this was only true in high-season; I think anyone can use the lounge in low-season.

This is true. There is no first class service in the off-season and, as the Park car is operated rear-round, this is a good deal. As the Bras D'Or does not run in the off-season, I didn't bother mentioning that.