Railroad Forums 

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

Moderator: Ken V

 #320474  by Ken V
 
VIA is introducing a new service starting January 12, 2007. The Snow Train Express! The train will leave Edmonton late Friday afternoon bound for Jasper returning late Sunday and features their Panorama glass-roofed coaches.
 #320722  by jp1822
 
This should be a nice service. What are the exact cars that they are going to use? Definitely will need a baggage car! I know VIA has several Panorama cars - to protect the Skeena's Totem Deluxe Class in peak season operation - but is it going to be one Panorama car and one coach car or a few of each? I believe they will need to have a VIA1 Class car to prepre the meals from.

I wish VIA could get the Skeena extended back to Edmonton. Perhaps this is the first step - never know. I know VIA has been trying to get the train extended to Edmonton so it is accessible via air travel etc. - reaching more market potential.

Also, I know VIA was thinking of running the Canadian six days a week just between Jasper and Vancouver a couple years back (seasonally). That also has never come to fruition.
 #321078  by Ken V
 
jp1822 wrote:What are the exact cars that they are going to use? Definitely will need a baggage car! I know VIA has several Panorama cars - to protect the Skeena's Totem Deluxe Class in peak season operation - but is it going to be one Panorama car and one coach car or a few of each? I believe they will need to have a VIA1 Class car to prepre the meals from.
I don't know the exact consist, but a single trainset will cover it. VIA has enough spare dining cars and Skylines during the winter season to cover the food service (I anticipate a full diner will be used) and there will be baggage service.

 #328963  by George L.
 
According to the customer service agent I chatted with a few moments ago, the Snow Train Express will basically consist of the same equipment they use for the Canadien - including a dining car.

Good thing too - I hate eating off my knees! :-D

 #334694  by adrianvia
 
This is good news that Via is actually starting a "new" service, although it is only temporary and geared towards tourists. However, I think that the price of 123 ONE WAY is very expensive, considering the distance is less than 400 km. Also, why is the train so slow, considering it is "express"?...6 hours for under 400km seems quite slow...Overall I just cannot picture people in Edmonton paying 250$ a person for travel to Jasper. Imagine a family of four, they would pay almost 1000$. If Via is to attract new riders, it needs to lower its prices to actually become competitive with the car...at this rate, the new train is destined to fail IMO. Also, if it were to be a big success, imagine how it would spur new routes all accross the country...unfortunately I doubt this venture will be profitable. I think the same thing happened with the Bras d'Or, instead of being marketed towards everyone, it was only for tourists, thus being very expensive, and again, it was a very slow train, not making it a real alternative to driving. Via must lower its prices (especially for new trains, and trains with lower ridership), better market its services and routes, and try to run its trains at higher speeds if it wants to really expand in the tough canadian transportation market.
 #335751  by jp1822
 
Edmonton to Jasper is when the train begins its mountainous running, so this starts to slow the train down, nonetheless, they still can do at least 50 mph on a lot of sections. I think the schedule is about an hour or so longer than a scheduled bus for the same distance and if you compare it to the Canadian's schedule there is padding for this "Express train." Also for the price being paid, you are also getting dinner.

I thought they were using the Panorama cars - which are different from the Canadian's trainset? It's possible they are going to use a diner to feed people, rather than trying to do it in the Panorama cars - as is done with Totem Deluxe on these cars for its Skeena run. The diner would make a little more sense, although it would be more cost effective if VIA operated a VIA 1 car ahead of the Panorama car to prepare meals. Would require less crew I would think if they did the VIA 1 Car where meals could be prepared (like on the Windosor-Toronto-Quebec corridor route).

According to VIA's annual report, they are looking to try and start services like this in various regions.

I think this weekend trip makes a lot of sense. Pricing is going to be interesting. They will definitely go after the tourist crowd, VIA that is. Also, if there is snow on the ground, it should be quite be spectacular site with the Panorama cars, as even in the dark, you can get a reflection from the snow, moon and lights of the cars etc. I am not saying this is better than daylight running though! Daylight is much better through this part of the country.

I remember last February it was at least into the 7 p.m. hour when we were on the westbound Canadian (on-time) and it was really neat to see what I described above in the evening.