Late train - Canada

[nkalanaga]

Amtrak has its problems, but I've never heard of a train this late.  There will probably be more updates, but so far I've found three articles.  The first article is actually about an earlier train, while the latter two are current:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/via-rail-train-edmonton-vancouver-1.4380801
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/via-rail-train-delayed-from-toronto-to-vancouver-1.4675680
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/via-rail-delay-train-passengers-vancouver-toronto-1.4677144

I didn't see any later posts, so don't know if it ever arrived or not.

[Lenny53]

This has been going on for a while.  The longer trains being run on CN do not fit in the passing sidings so Via gets sidelined.   Trains are arriving so late at the end of their runs
their next departure gets pushed back a day so they are already 24 hours late before the initial departure..

[MK]

Wow, that last link jumps to a 45 hour delay!     No wonder nobody travels by train!  That poor Spanish couple rushing to British Columbia to see their daughter graduate from college.  Should have taken the plane!

I wonder if Amtrak has these problems too.  (The answer is probably yes!)  But as severe?

[Maletrain]

I wonder if Amtrak has these problems too.  (The answer is probably yes!)  But as severe?

Amtrak definitely has the same issue, although I have never heard of one anywhere near this long.  For instance, a few years back, I was at Harper's Ferry and the Amtrak version of the westbound Capitol Limited was due, but the word from the station was that it was "stuck behind a freight train" and would be delayed at least 2 hours.  Considering that the Capitol Limited used to be the train that the B&O moved everything else out of the way to accommodate, it was sort of jarring to see how low passenger service has fallen.  Maybe they should change the name to Capital Limited.  Was really glad I got there by automobile.

[nkalanaga]

Amtrak, by law, has priority.  Granted, that doesn't seem to mean much, but they do have a little leverage.  Apparently, when VIA was created, no such priority was included, so the freight railroads can delay them as much as they wish.

I still haven't found any updates, so the train my have arrived, or it may still be sitting in a siding somewhere.

[MK]

Not challenging your statement about Amtrak but how come I keep hearing Amtrak delays are caused by freight?  Is it because it really is freight delays versus freight priority?

[Philip H]

Amtrak doesn’t own most of its track and so is dispatched by the freight railroads over their tracks. This means that while by law Amtrak has priority, in practice the freight railroads will keep high dollar freight moving over passengers.

[MK]

Thanks!  Ah, so it's a scam!   

[Maletrain]

Just another example of how passing a law really doesn't change anything.  You actually need to enforce a law for it to have any effect.

[peteski]

Amtrak doesn’t own most of its track and so is dispatched by the freight railroads over their tracks. This means that while by law Amtrak has priority, in practice the freight railroads will keep high dollar freight moving over passengers.

That was my experience during the transcontinental Amtrak trip I took from Boston to LA in 2005.  We were delayed few times by higher priority freight trains.    The conductor told us the same thing - Amtrak is traveling over leased track and the owner's freights have higher priority. I didn't even know that there was that meaningless law.

[Angus Shops]

The bride and I took the Canadian from Vancouver to Toronto in January and we arrived 25 hours late. Via was going to clean and turn the train for quick turnaround but that would mean that the westbound train was going to depart nearly 24 hours late. Toronto is the centre of Via's world and I can't understand why they couldn't have an extra consist available. I believe Via has equipment available in Vancouver to cover for late arriving westbounds; I can't believe Via can't muscle up some equipment in Toronto. Especially, in our case, in mid winter when the trains only runs twice week with shorter consists.

Nobody, except one older lady, seemed to mind being late. Arriving late in TO wasn't a problem for us and all the others managed to rebook their onward flights when we passed the few spots with cell service. We had an extra day on the train and the crew treated us beautifully. They managed to come up with a full menu for all of the extra meals (I had the trout for the extra dinner), but we did stop in Hornepayne for few dozen eggs that were brought to the train by a local CN employee. We were 4 hours late in Jasper, 12 hours late in Winnipeg, and we got stuck behind a broken down work service train in northern Ontario. We stopped in the late afternoon and were in that same spot when I woke up the next day. They had to fly in a new crew to the nearest town and then drive then to the nearest road crossing then hike down the line to the train. When we got moving again we were still 24 hours out of Toronto but we didn't lose any more time after that.

What a great trip; we even had a bonus day! I'd do it again tomorrow.

Geoff

[nkalanaga]

MK:  It also depends very much on the railroad.  BNSF, and apparently UP, try to keep the trains moving.  Most of the Empire Builder's delays seem to be weather or track work, and those affect freight also.  I think it's partly because both railroads have a lot of intermodal traffic, and Amtrak fits right in, speed-wise.

It also helps that BN, ATSF, and UP have a history of running their passenger trains well, even when they were losing money on them.  Almost 50 years later it still seems to be part of the corporate culture.

[peteski]

MK:  It also depends very much on the railroad.  BNSF, and apparently UP, try to keep the trains moving.  Most of the Empire Builder's delays seem to be weather or track work, and those affect freight also.  I think it's partly because both railroads have a lot of intermodal traffic, and Amtrak fits right in, speed-wise.

It also helps that BN, ATSF, and UP have a history of running their passenger trains well, even when they were losing money on them.  Almost 50 years later it still seems to be part of the corporate culture.

The most severe delay on our trip was IIRC on Norfolk Southern (ex. Conrail?) trackage, so that makes sense.