From: CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: VIA winter timetable
Date: 16 Oct 92 15:41:25 GMT
Organization: McGill University

I posted this yesterday, but it seems to have gone to net.limbo,
so I'm trying again.

I just got a copy of VIA Rail Canada's winter timetable, which
comes into effect with the change to standard time on October 25.
Most of the changes are relatively minor.  Here are the ones I've
noticed:

The Montreal-Halifax "Atlantic" (#11-12) and "Ocean" (#14-15) will
be speeded up by 26-30 minutes.  Apparently some runs of these trains
will be covered by the renovated ex-CP Budd stainless cars, beginning
sometime this winter.

The timetable still shows dayniter service on these trains (Dayniters
are coaches with extra-large seats with legrests, intended for over-
night travel).  I'm not sure what will happen to this service when
the "new" cars come into use.  I imagine the dayniters will be
eliminated, since I don't think any are being converted to HEP.
The "new" coaches offer more leg room than the old day coaches, so
dayniters may be seen as unnecessary (old ex-CN day coaches - 76
seats, "new" rebuilt ex-CP coaches - 60 seats, dayniters  - 52 seats)

The "Atlantic" will no longer stop in Windsor, Quebec.

The Montreal-Gaspe "Chaleur" (#16-17) is being speeded up by 20 min.

The "Ocean" and "Chaleur" will still serve Levis, Quebec (across the
St. Lawrence River from Quebec City).  CN has wanted to abandon the
track leading to the Levis station, but apparently this abandonment
has been postponed, if not cancelled.

Several stations in the East are losing their ticket agent and
checked baggage service: Richmond, Montmagny, La Pocatiere,
Trois-Pistoles, Causapscal (all in Quebec), and Springhill Junction,
Nova Scotia.

The Senneterre-Cochrane train (#143-144) will be speeded up.  This
TGV of the New World (tm) will have an average speed of 30 mph,
up from 24 mph.

The Toronto-Vancouver "Canadian" (#1) is 30 minutes slower westbound.
Eastbound (#2) it runs at the same speed as before, but 1 hour
earlier.  Three flag stops in nortwestern Ontario have been deleted:
Morgan, Quibell, and Ena Lake.

Advance purchase discounts are now available for sleeping cars, as
well as coaches.  Reductions of 25 % to 40 % are available, depending
on the date of travel.

In the Quebec-Windsor corridor, the biggest change is to the Quebec-
Montreal service.  This has changed from 3 trains/day in each direction,
to 4/day Monday-Friday, 3/day Saturday, and 2/day Sunday.  Running
times have been reduced.  They used to range from 3 h 10 min to
3 h 29 min; now they will be 2 h 42 min to 2 h 59 min.

Running times have been reduced slightly for most trains in the corridor
This is normal practice, as VIA adds slack to the timetable in the
summer, to allow for CN track work, then takes out this slack in the
winter.

The most ballyhooed of these reductions is for Montreal-Toronto
trains #166-167, which will take 3 h 59 min, down from 4 h 10 min.
This equals the fastest scheduled running time ever between these two
cities, established by the United Aircraft Turbotrain in the early
1970s.

Other notable changes in the corridor include a change to Ottawa-
Toronto #45, which will depart Ottawa at 11:30 instead of 10:05.
Toronto to Windsor checked baggage service will be provided on
late-afternoon #75 instead of evening #79.  Sarnia to Toronto
#80 will arrive in Toronto at 10:35 instead of 11:15, giving a much
better connection to Ottawa.  On Saturdays only, this train will
run between London and Toronto on the ex-Great Western line,
instead of the usual ex-Grand Trunk line (i.e. through Brantford
instead of Kitchener).

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad