Train travel

[retiredgrunt45]

Could you imagine how much the cost would be, to build a high speed rail system across a country the size of Canada, it would be  staggering.
Comparing Europes high speed rail systems is certainly not a fair comparison, first off you can fit most of Europe into the eastern provinces, Quebec and Ontario and still have space left over. Now if we were to build one say from PEI to Quebec or Ontario, would be a more realistic comparison to Europes system.

My wife and I plan a cross country trip on out 30Th wedding anniversary in 2010 and we are taking the rail, not because its cheap or we're in a hurry, but because it's the best way to see our country other than driving. We can relax, we have our own sleeper car, restaurant, bar, and best of all, a great view of our beloved country from coast to coast. We have been planning this now for 5 years and we are really looking forward to it. Yes it's expensive, but so is a cruise or a trip to Europe and we've done that, this time we decided its time we've seen what's in our own back yard, we don't have to worry about passports, customs, just sit back and relax and enjoy the journey and the rail is by far still the best choice.

 

[Exarecr]

I  Remember a couple of years ago CN instituted a plan where passengers received a free return trip should the initial train they were waiting for be over 10 minutes late. Naturally, CN being CN they lost so much money on the first week of the scheme the plan was mercifully axed. Like most Government services in Canada these days, besides being inefficient, over burdened, and generally years behind other industrialized countries with respect to any "new or state of the art technologies, there is also a decline in productivity and pride of work. The trains are dirty, the staff look bored and sloppy and we get all this at ridiculous prices. The last time I was on a train and felt as neglected and unwanted as i felt on via rail I was in Germany on one of those wonderfull Reforger trains and we had to pull over for a train full of rocks. Hurry up and wait has infiltrated everything the Feds touch. Sadly its all becoming so third world.

 

[Samsquanch]

I wouldn't go that far to say third world.... There are many reasons a train is delayed rockslides, mudslides, poor visibility track maintenace crews, avalanches and the damn CN taking 10,000 feet of train with a single unit and dumping her over the side of a cliff. Just to name a few.

 

[retiredgrunt45]

Last summer we took VIA from Toronto to Wiinipeg to visit our daughter who is attending university there and the experience was very good, The stewards were courtiuos and friendly, food was OK and the train was clean. Rail travel ,is easier for us because my wife is in a wheelchair and she doesn't like being cramped into a bulkhead seat like a sardine in a can for long periods of time, let alone trying to use the washroom on a plane in a wheelchair.

Our last plane ride was 4 years ago when we flew to Miami Florida to board the cruise ship for our Bahamas cruise. We flew from Toronto to New Jersey, we had to transfer to another plane for the second leg to Miami and they told us it was a direct flight from Toronto to Miami, should of known better, poor service, little help and plenty of fustration, but they had no problem taking our money. No thanks. Since then we have used Via numerous times to travel long and short distance, mind you not everything was perfect on every trip, but overall we had no teribbly bad experiences either.

And yes i've been on those troops trains in germany going to reforger and its just that a troop train and if Via was to operate like that, we certainly wouldn't use them.

I've travelled in Europe on the rail system over there, we purchased Euro-rail tickets so we could see several countries on every summer leave and some of those trains were nothing to write home about either, loud, frequent stops, noisy, and the food was terrible and in France very rude stewards. Via may have their problems, but my overall satisfation is good compared to what we experienced in europe. Mind you maybe at some point we may run into a bad experience, but so far our experinces with Via have been good.