jp1822 wrote: I'd still like to see if patronage would increase if the Chaleur were to directly serve Quebec City......Would seem it would take about a half hour for the Chaleur to get from Charney to Quebec City and then another 1/2 hour for it to return. But a reverse move or wye would have to be involved at the Quebec City station I believe.Possible.....Yes.....But time-wise.....A long detour!
An eastbound Chaleur via Quebec City would first arrive in Charny as it does now then proceed over the Quebec Bridge to Ste-Foy then on to Gare du Palais. It's 17 miles and with terminal trackage and a stop in Ste-Foy this would take 30 minutes.
You would probably want to wye the train first just north of the station where corridor trains are turned now, then back in. If it’s a long train, this would permit as many cars as possible to be on the platform. (Gare du Palais has a fully enclosed garage like train-shed with high-level platforms) So add another 30 to 45 minutes to turn the train, fuel/service and unload/load passengers.
Now it’s 17 miles and 30 minutes to retrace the route back to Charny. Here the Chaleur would take the east leg of a wye (not currently used by passenger trains) into Joffre Yard properly positioned to continue east.
A few minutes would be saved by not having to back out of Charny to West Jct. to continue east into Joffre Yard as the Chaleur does now but you’re probably still looking at adding at least an 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours to the current schedule to serve Gare du Palais.
Perhaps the Chaleur should originate/terminate in Quebec City and anyone continuing on to or from Montreal would connect to a fast corridor train at Charny similar to what passengers on VIA’s “Saint-Laurent” did in the 1980's. (Schedule below) I don’t know the stats on the origin/destination of Chaleur passengers and who would be better served..........Is Quebec City or Montreal the bigger market?
This was a non-issue until 1998 when the CN line thru Levis was abandoned and VIA was forced to start using the freight line thru Joffre Yard making Charny the stop on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River with a shuttle bus to/from Gare du Palais. Prior to that VIA stopped at Levis (almost in sight of Gare du Palais, a mile away across the river) Here you boarded a ferry (right at the Levis station) for the 6 or 7 minute crossing to Quebec City. VIA even advised passengers (see the note in the schedule below) that they could leave the train and take the ferry over to Quebec to save time instead of continuing all the way around to Gare du Palais. I think this is the same purpose the bus shuttle serves now. Does a Montreal-Gaspe passenger really want 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours added to their trip?
An interesting “railfan” trip you could take when the Saint-Laurent was running was to board it in Quebec City. The Saint-Laurent was actually towed backwards (engine on the rear) on the tail end of a corridor train as far a Charny. Here the trains were separated in the centre with the corridor train continuing west to Montreal and the Saint-Laurent east to Mont Joli. After 1 1/4 hours and 25 miles you were now in Levis and only 1 mile from where you had started on the opposite side of the river! Just board the ferry to return.
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