That work you saw when departing from Montreal is for the upcoming REM system - Réseau express métropolitain, a brand new 67km long automated rapid transit system that will use Alstom Metropolis rolling stock. It’ll be quite similar to the new Sydney Metro. The work outside of Montreal Central is the segment that will open first later this fall 2022 connecting downtown Montreal with South Shore. The second part of that work is track upgrades in preparation for VIA Rail’s own HFR project - High Frequency Rail that will seek to build dedicated passenger tracks with electrification and grad separation along the entire Toronto to QC corridor service.
@@Dexter037S4 same thing. According to Wikipedia, it is a light rail. Full on heavy metro would be something like the Montreal Métro or the Toronto Subway, using trains that are over 6 cars long. Light rail systems uses trains that are less than 6 or 4 cars long.
Fortunately VIA rail will replace its fleet with the new one from Siemens. But still, they have to deal with sharing the tracks with the freight train which cause VIA services to run slower and less frequent than it supposed to be.
@@senorsoupe they were suppose to offer improve service in the 80s with the introduction of the LRC that had been design for a top speed of 125 mph bit that never append and even the last 10 LRC engine were gear for a top speed of 103mph instead of 125mph since the goverment new that the tracks would not been improve to allow an higher speed than 100mph ... I would only believe in the HSR when the train will start using it ...
VIA's Budd coaches may top off at 100 MPH, but when you go around 170 miles in three and a half hours, that averages out to around 50 MPH. VIA has no intentions of building new bridges over the St. Lawrence River, or build new tracks in urban Montreal and Quebec City. Top speed isn't average speed. To achieve a much higher average speed, intermediate stops have to close. Something Canadians are not prepared to sacrifice...
NGL, pretty excited for the new (bidirectional)! train sets from Siemens. The new dedicated tracks should also make a huge difference in on time performance.
@@jy6283 The plan isn’t for HSR (High Speed Rail) but HFR (High Frequency Rail). The trains will travel a bit faster than today, but not at HSR speeds (similar to Europe’s InterCity (IC) service) . As a result construction cost will be significantly lower making the project more likely to succeed. It also doesn’t complete directly with the airlines (but with personal automobiles instead) so the airlines won’t lobby against it (the lobbyists have a lot of political power).
well you can but the thing is you will always get a minimum 30min delay because the priority is always the CN and CP since they own the tracks also, the wifi often doesnt work for some reason.
The Pont-du-Quebec bridge is the last bridge on the river, it gets far too wide east of Quebec City. Both collapses happened during construction, costing a lot of lives (first one claimed 75 men, at least 33 were Mohawk First Nations Iron Workers. The worst lost of life in bridge construction ever. The second time they were attempting to lift the final center section when something in the lift mechanism failed, and it dropped the section, taking 13 men with it into the river (that section is still there, they received special permission (due to shortages for WWI) to acquire more steel to rebuild it and finish the bridge).) The bridge was at the limits of the technology, available materials and engineering knowledge of the time period.
Thank you for showcasing Canada again. A note on the catenary towers near the beginning: the approach to Central Station through the Mount Royal Tunnel was already electrified before the station was completed. During construction, it was decided to extend electrification to Point St. Charles coach yard and Turcot maintenance facility so that steam engines could be swapped out for electrics before entering downtown. Dieselization made the swap unnecessary and the lines were taken down south of the station.
What can we say? Budd don't break. A popular saying among American railfans regarding the high quality workmanship of the Budd Co., which explains their cars' longevity even over contemporaries like Pullman Standard, which often rust out long before equivalent Budd cars. I have to say, based on your experience with Brightline in Florida, until a few days ago I was rather excited to see the new Venture coaches entering service with Amtrak; finally, some European modernity reaching American rails. But after seeing photos and anecdotes of the new cars on a trial run a few days ago, my excitement has turned to horror; unlike Brightline, it seems that Amtrak has learned all the wrong lessons from Euro coach design; hard uncomfortable seats, bright sterile environment, everything looking half-baked and bolted together (granted it's still early days and this was a public trial, but given Amtrak's reputation there's nothing to indicate that this isn't how they'll go into service). Older cars like the Budd fleet seen here and even Amtrak's own Amfleet cars have survived so long for a reason; they still do the job and passengers like them. And in this age of rail having to win people back from air and road, I'm not convinced that an uncomfortable experience aboard soulless modern Venture stock is going to do the job.
Amtrak had very little say in the design of the new Siemens cars that just went into service because the Midwest states purchased them and specified what type of interiors to use. Most likely the coaches Amtrak purchases for their own trains will have a more comfortable interior more akin to the Brightline trains, since they will have more of a say in the process this time.
My ex wife and I took this train from Toronto to Quebec City for our honeymoon. I loved it. Such beautiful scenery and at a very reasonable cost. Quebec City was wonderfu. So much history.
5:37 These MR-90 EMUs are no longer in service because the Deux-Montagnes Line (which these EMUs run on) is being replaced by REM, an automated light metro project in the Montreal area.
Before the renovation of the line and the introduction of the MR-90, that line was a real railway museum with old electric boxcab and coaches as you could see in this video ruclips.net/video/AzjmvBH8AwI/видео.html To bad that those trains are now gone (at least however some electrics boxcab had been preserve ...
took the Canadian from vancouver to toronto in 2002, the service was great, the food was delicious and done perfectly, and scenery was fantastic, especially the rockies during winter. enjoyed jasper, winnipeg etc.
VIA use the same seats as the Austrian OBB. The business class uses the same seat as the economy. So the seat width is not very impressive. The only improvement is VIA enhanced a bit the recline angle. Don't be surprised by all the modern features of this train. VIA keep renovating them. HEP 2 fleet is the "newest". While the HEP 1 is the old veteran. The toilet even features the Canadian Pacific logo.
Also...the 1st class seats on most German ICE 3 trains are almost the same as those in economy class in the renovated LRC and HEP2 cars. I personally prefer the previous generation (similar to what you see on this train in Economy but with different colours)
@@LiamWalsheliamskitchen My preference is the HEP 1. They were briefly in service on the corridor during 17-19. They have retained their long distance coach configuration. That is so comfortable. It is unmatchable by any other type of seat. Unfortunately when VIA renovated its LRC and HEP2 fleets, VIA purchased a seat that could have a greater angle of recline but limited them into a comfortable ish angle in economy class :(
@@he11ange1 Indeed, those HEP 1 cars are a treat if you get them in the corridor. They've actually been used in the corridor for much longer than that - mostly on trains 85 and 88 (presently not running), where they usually used 2 car trains consisting of a HEP 1 and a HEP 2 (and sometimes a second HEP 1 depending on demand). The HEP 2 was often a declassified business class car, but in later times was a regular coach.
I LOVE your videos and watch every one as soon as posted. My late father was a conductor in the US Army transporting prisoners from Italy to Germany. He obviously had trauma from this because he would never speak about it unless he was riding in a train to recall those horrific war days. Only a few months before Dads passing he told me that at every stop he had to load body bags of killed soilders. Anyway I have 2 suggested for you. Lets see more of yourself. You are a attraction guy! Dont be so shy ! Next your bottom English explanation passes by VERY QUICKLY. I find myself often going back anywhere from 2 to 4 times to read it all. And that breaks my chain of thoughts. But you film very well Gary
So delighted for another video from my hometown of Montreal! Lovely to see Central Station and the Art Deco decor. And amazing to see Montreal out the train window. Hmm, I’m not sure I appreciate the “grandma” comment about the age of the railcars, lol. I haven’t been to Quebec City by train for 40+ years. I’m used to travelling to Toronto on this corridor and the interiors there do seem more up to date. It will be great to see the new VIA Rail equipment - I’ve seen videos of it and it’s impressive. There have been attempts at new trains, even high speed ones, on the Quebec-Windsor corridor over the past decades and I travelled on one of the “high speed” ones in, maybe, the 70s before it was scrapped. These attempts failed because they had not been tested in Canada’s extreme winter weather conditions. Unbelievable. And I love travelling to New York on Amtrak out of Montreal and I can’t wait until it opens up again!
Those stainless steel Budd coaches (and sleepers) have lasted much longer than the steel locomotives that pull them... Three generatuibs of diesel locomotives have pulled the Budd coaches and sleepers...
4:45. The overhead structures once held catenary wires for electric trains. Starting around 1910 when then Mount Royal tunnel opened. CN extended wires over all the station tracks, approaches, and entering the yards for shuttling trains with electric locos to avoid using steam locos in the station. When diesel engines made steam obsolete, electric operations were cut back to only the steep tunnel and Duex Montages commuter service that it uses. Most of the unneeded structures stayed up for many decades as CN never bothered to tear them down.
Nice video! At 5:40, those coaches that you saw - used to serve the only electrified commuter train line in Canada (From Montreal to Deux-Montagnes, a suburb). While I never rode on that line before (I'm not from Montreal but I live in Toronto and knew a friend in Montreal who knows about those trains), the commuter is being converted to a rapid transit line currently under construction. One of the branches of that rapid transit will serve Deux-Montagnes, the others will serve the YUL airport, the South Shore and the West Island. It is expected to be open between this year (2022) and 2024.
Thank you for sharing your video about trip Montréal to Québec City in business class ! It looks comfortable, relaxing ride, can see you have the whole row to yourself !!!
The enclosed baggage compartments and nets on the shelves for luggage at the ends of the car is a safety feature implemented after a derailment where evacuation was hindered by suitcases that had fallen into the aisle and blocked the path. I was unfortunate enough to have been working on a train that did derail many years after these features were introduced and they did keep items in place when one of the cars ended up on it’s side. Also in “economy” (standard) class the service is snack and beverage at the seat. The galley is used to store the carts in the refrigerated lower compartment and dry supplies (cups, napkins, etc) get loaded into the square overhead compartments in bins with trays. The commissary and crew dispatch in Montreal (and Toronto) supply and staff trains based on the passenger counts. Since the past 10 years consists have been pretty standard at all times but when I was working for VIA I had some trains up to 9 cars (2 business class and 7 economy) which would total over 500 passengers if sold out.
Glad you enjoyed this trip, Thibault, it's one of my favourite journeys on the VIA Rail network. I just another vid from someone who took the 2nd revenue service of the new Siemens trainsets on the Montréal-Ottawa line earlier this week, so I'll have to check that out sometime soon (Ottawa being my home station). If you do get back to Canada, it would be great if you can catch the LRC set and Siemens set.... and perhaps the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver!
I agree business class is almost identical to Acela ICE and AVE. And VIA Rail obviously takes good care of their rolling stock. Sorry the weather wasn't better. Thank you Thibault for a great report.😀😀♥️♥️
Your canadian train videos make me wish I could ride Via more often! No passenger trains here in Calgary, but i try and use trains whenever i can while travelling. Never travelled on the Corridor, but Via”s long-distance economy seats (I believe they’re from the HEP-1 refit in the 90s) are pretty acceptable, plenty of legroom and a good amount of recline. Not a bad spot for a nap, since berths are so expensive. The boarding area you mentioned has dutch doors that can be opened, on less busy routes you can sometimes persuade your Service Manager to let you get some photos. Via has some of the coolest retro passenger equipment in service anywhere, you’ve got to try out a train with a dome car next! Nothing is sacred when it comes to Canadian passenger trains, so who knows how long Via lasts outside the corridor
I don't even know how Via got rid of the Calgary line. They did the same to Fredericton and I'm angry about that, but Calgary has over 1 million people, it's stupid to remove the track and they've lost so much revenue.
Excellent trip report ! I did this trip last summer round trip in business class one day. Yes Via's crews are excellent!!! Thanks for sharing this trip with us...:):):)
When I was on the train from Toronto to Montreal to head back home to Halifax, I was on a Business class seat and it had a large table that sat four people at. The food was very good and it included all beverages including alcoholic drinks too
The only trains I have ridden in the US are commuter trains here in the Chicago area. It takes longer for us to get to any of the intercity stations in the region than it does to either airport. The only intercity train trip I've ever taken, believe it or not, was this route, when my wife and I flew to Montreal then immediately took the train to Quebec City in 1991!. My most vivid recollection was that the trees were not trimmed back very far from that single track--some branches seemed to nearly touch the windows, which at 90 mph was rather disorienting. I also now recall wondering what the train was doing with that slow turnaround in Sainte-Foy. Three days later, we returned to Gare du Palais and saw several empty motor coaches outside. As soon as we entered, we were informed that a bad storm had knocked down a number of trees in that single track section, rendering it impassable, so we would return to Montreal on one of those coaches. Given what I had noted about the trees on the way to QC, I honestly wasn't all that surprised that the route was blocked due to storm damage.
12:06 ... it's a massive detour but geography around this area made it impossible to avoid, if not it would be a very sharp hill to the bottom of the "valley"
Montreal Central station was a through station until recently, until the REM programme mentioned by others rendered the tunnel unusable by VIA. Not sure how much this has added to the schedule. I've always loved travelling on VIA, the staff are always exceptional and the business class food excellent (for airline food). They are very generous with drinks in the evenings too!
The fact that the mont-royal tunnel is not available now doesn't change anything now since the train from Québec city used the south shore line so the train had to back up in Montreal to either Ponite St-Charles or pont Victoria to continue the trip to either Quebec City or Ottawa. However, with the HFR, the plan is to use the tunnel to reach the north shore line to Québec City via Trois-Rivières instead of the actual line so that the train would not need to reverse direction at Montreal (however, with the new trainset, this is no longer going to be an issue since those train would have the capacity to run in either direction ...). Also unlike the CN line on the south shore, the former CP line on the north shore doesn't see a lot of trains so the line is more suitable for the project, but will require a huge investment since the quality of the line doesn't allow decent speed. What is unclear also is the possibility for Via Rail to run there train in the tunnel since the caisse de depot want an exclusive access for the REM project ...
3:33 - what you show as an ICE is actually the spanish AVE 103, doesn't seem like thats been pointed out. But obviously the Velaro ES stems from the German 403/406. Cheers
Actually, the HEP2 Coaches here will be refurbished again and used on the Canadian and other services like to Churchill etc. It's only the LRC's that are getting retired. But these coaches won't be on the corridor anymore, just used in other areas of VIA's network. They are stainless steel frame and essentially could last another 100 years.
Some of the smoothest riding equipment I've ever been on were those old Budd cars; of course, that was almost 40 years ago when these cars were "only" 40 years old. But talk about comfort - Amtrak at that time had kept the same seats and layout they had had under the old Santa Fe, with only 48 seats in the entire car. Even as a really tall teenager (6'4"), I couldn't touch the seat in front of me. I've really been hoping to get a ride on some of VIA's Budd cars while they last, but I have a feeling I'm going to miss my chance. I understand progress and that these cars are now 80 years old, but it'll still be a shame when they're gone.
Business class on the LRC's are almost identical setup. these on the Corridor wont be around for much longer with the new fleet coming next year but the Budds will survive in other area's
What a great trip. I think this is my first time seeing P42DC with Via Rail Canada livery, previously I always see P42DC only at Amtrak livery/another passenger rail company in US. Also what a classic coach, and surprising me it can run faster despite it old age. The replacement of this train for Siemens looks amazing, can't wait.
Canada's Trunk Corridor has signals geared for 100 mph top speed, but the rest of Canada's railroads are alike the USA's railroads, signals geared for 79 mph top speed. While VIA's trains can top out at 100 mph, their freight trains don't go faster than 79 mph which can and does slow down VIA's passenger trains.
Your comment about the language being spoken is not unusual. I've heard Frenchmen say that the language spoken in Quebec is not French, just as some Brits say that the language spoken in the U.S. is not English!
Thanks for this video! Taken these trains many times but never all the way up to Quebec. Hope you get to try the LRC and the new Siemens coaches at some point too. The LRC is great, even in standard class the seats are amazing and lots of room.
Thank you for all this nice experiences you share with us. Since Childhood i love trains. Why in europa people run to the train doors are the small time to get your next train. You know that.love ❤ your Videos. Regards from Germany. By the Way. My best experiences riding a train was in Sri lanka . Open doors and me and some People. From Colombo to Bentota.
Good video. I also notice that they was a renaissance trainset at gare du palais across the platform. By the way, Renaissance trainset pull by a P42 are the only equipment allow to run at LRC speed witch including a strech on the Drummonville sudbivision were the speed limit is 100 mph between St nicolas and Laurier station (along autoroute 20 just before arriving at Charny) and 95 mph fot most of the run otherwise (except of course for the numerous restriction due to the numerous curves along the routes). Any other trainset (including the LRC that are no longer allow to run at LRC speed limit) are limited to 95 mph at some parts and 85 mph for most of the run. By the way, at my knowledge, HEP2 coaches are limited to 95 mph, I don't think that they are allow to run at higher speed and only the P42 are capable of 100mph, F40 have a top speed of 95 mph. Also Québec city is north east of Montréal, but in fact is mainly east not north ... The actual trivel time just show how bad train service is in Canada despite the quality of there employees. Back at the creation of Via, in 1976, travel time between Montreal and Québec City was 2:59 minutes with old trains (fp9 or fpa4 locomotive and good old blue and yellow cars) that was limited to 85 mph. In 1993 Via manage to make the run under 2:50 minutes with the LRC and a top speed of 95 mph. Now you're going to be lucky to make the run under 3:30. The story is the same between Montréal and Toronto as CN and later VIA managed to make the run in 3:59 with the turbo and later the LRC. Now, you would be lucky if you make that trip in less than 5:30 hours ... and the same is true with any train in Canada. Canada is probably the only country were every train is slower than 40 years ago. Even in the US, if some trains take more time than 40 years ago, other are faster like the acela in comparaison with the metroliner they replace ...
Great video dude. I'm traveling to Halifax middle of February on the Ocean. Just a FYI note. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario etc. are provinces not states! Thought you'd want to know this factoid. Train travel is the way to go as compared to flying or driving. Travel safe
Try "Business" for lunch or dinner, I think it's amongst the best on board food n wine of any train. To add to the airline feel the catering company only does certain airlines and only one train company out side EU.
The entry to Central Station was orginally electrified in 1917 by the Canadian Northern Railway (now part of CN) in order to gain access to downtown Montreal through the Mount Royal tunnel, which the CNo had built. Ancient 1917 - built box-cab electrics hauled commuter trains through this tunnel until 1995, pulling equally ancient sleepers stripped of their interiors for high-density comutter service. As these old cars were still steam-heated and the electrics had no steam generators, so travel in winter could be brutal - the only heat from the packed-in bodies of your fellow commuters! This service lasted 75 years, it's replacement only 25, let's hope the REM service is a bit longer lived.
Love your journeys. Can you show some wheelchair access on your journeys, I love to travel but now I am wheelchair bound. It’s always easier to think about going if you can see it’s going to be a smooth transition. I am looking at doing London to Amsterdam soon. Many thanks x
The seats reminde me so much of RegioJet Astra coaches, but in RegioJet they are as a standard class and have infotaiment screen per seat, you shout try them
11:35 In 1909, 1916 and any time soon. CN (Canadien National, a Canadian railways company), the owner of the bridge is really negligent. By the way, the LRC trains were almost history 20 years ago. The have been replaced by dispised British Renaissance trains. I am very happy to see that Renaissance trains are also history.
I would like to recommend you do an LRC trip before they get replaced with the new train sets. Also, don’t let the seats at 8:24 fool you. The seats themselves may be comfortable, but the cars that they were in (hep2 or blue/yellow stripes) have an uncomfortable suspension, unlike the LRC
Totally unrelated to trains, however I’m curious, how easy is it for you to understand Canadian French? Because I’ve heard that it’s very different from the French spoken in France.
I can speak from experience going in the other direction (Canadian who has visited Europe), and chances are unless you’re talking to someone with a strong accent in Quebec, you can be understood by any other French speaker. We do have some weird quirks in Quebec where France just uses the English words, but Quebec has a different one (parking/stationement) but nothing major.
The problem with the tables between facing seats in the Siemens photo is that they have proven that when passengers are thrown forward against them in collisions, they cause grievous injuries to the abdomen. I don't know why they're keeping this design.
It should be noted that these Budd cars won't in fact be retired just yet. After the corridor cars are all replaced by the Siemens sets, they'll be moved to the long distance fleet, bolstering it. The LRC and Renaissance fleets will be retired and replaced by the Siemens sets and the reassigned Budd cars will replace the Ocean's Renaissance sets. The well built budds will have the absolute most gotten out of them before being finally replaced
During the next government, or the next after than, at some point the Budd fleet will have to be replaced with new sleepers and coaches for VIA's long distance overnight routes...
@@ronclark9724 Currently, the plan is to only order new cars to replace the Ocean's renaissance sets. Said new cars would have to be compatible with the budds. There isn't a real rush to retire the budds especially since they just all got refurbished. They're good for another 10 or so years
I always find it weird that Via doesn't have cafe cars like Amtrak. It's not like one giant galley takes up that much space. But oh well, airlines inspired trains it is. At least all we got was Amcans.
👍🏻🏴 The corrugated aluminium gives strength and these coaches were stunning when new inspiring French and Swedish unpainted versions. The vastness of North America’s landscapes always amazes. Those distances unfortunately explain why most choose to take the plane. That also explains why the continent’s passenger services are so behind the times. Thank you for your video. Canadian French must be instantly recognisable like South American Spanish. Of course Americans haven’t spoken English since 1776!? 🙂
Not aluminum, the exterior and entire car structure is stainless steel by Budd. Heavy but extremely strong and corrosion resistant. They will outlast any other type of car.
Can’t wait until next year when they start running brand new Siemens trains asking The Corridor. Along with track upgrades that’ll allow faster service, it’ll become so much better over the coming years!
Although I'm embarrassed by the condition of the seats in the standard class coach, generally I enjoy travelling Via Rail, usually from Toronto to Windsor. I used to ride those Budd coaches when I was a kid back in the 60s! Hopefully one day we'll have a European-style train service in Canada
Canada doesn't invest heavily into infrastructure. Notice there is NOT a paved highway to the Arctic Ocean yet. Nor is there a controlled access highway coast to coast. When Thibault finally rides the Canadian he will be disappointed in the condition of the railroad tracks. He should be ready for a bumpy ride...
The Exo MU cars at Montreal are in DEAD STORAGE, no idea of their ultimate disposition. Only built in 1994. Via Rail HEP2 cars include business class cars 4000-4009 and higher capacity coaches in the 4100 series. They were originally built late 1940s early 1950s for several US railroads, many but not all belonged to Amtrak.
What's also interesting is that 4007, 4008, and 4009 were actually regular coaches (4123, 4124, and 4125 respectively) that received a new galley and a few other modifications, such as the removal of some seats. For a period of time, they had a slightly different interior than the other HEP2 business cars (seats were exactly the same as economy, but with increased legroom and recline, but they didn't have the same headrests and seat fabric that 4000-4006 did). Eventually they got the same interior that the LRC business class cars had (2-2), and now they're converting them into the 2-1 seating you see here. I personally liked the old seating that these HEP2 cars once had. Yes, it was 2-2, but the seats were a lot more comfortable and there was tons of recline. I particularly liked seat 55 (as it was called back then) because it had extra legroom and assuming there was nobody in the wheelchair spot behind it, you could recline fully without disturbing anyone. Oh...and the middle armrest went up unlike the LRCs, so if nobody was next to you, you could stretch out.
The Second Class interiors are the older, un-refurbished interiors, your First Class is a roomier version of the Refurbished Second Class interior. I much prefer the Leather seats to the older cloth ones since the plastic isn't old and creaky, and the seat cushions feel more uniform, plus the grey and orange looks more high end compared to the old burgundy and cream
Canada is far behind other countries for train service. All public announcements are in English and French. Travel is better in other seasons than winter. However I would love to take this train.
Canada has two official languages. English and French. Yes Canada should update and upgrade the passenger train service. We should have trains and services like other countries.
Canada does not even have a paved road to the Arctic Ocean yet. When Nunavut became a separate territory it was promised a deep water port thirty years ago... Where is it? There is much, much more to Canada than southern Ontario...
I tried business class from Ottawa to Toronto once. Although it's nice to have hot meal, the car is too close to the engine, which makes the experience not very good. I would rather choose economy class.
Entirely rebuilt on the inside to resemble LRCs. I've travelled on Amfleet coaches from Toronto / Niagara Falls, and not impressed. The curved shape cuts into room and the windows are tiny,
@@haweater1555 The Amfleet coaches are designed to fit into New York City's tunnels... Most of the Amfleet coaches are on trains serving New York City...
I'm excited for the new ViaRail coaches. Especially since there is a chance that the windsor tunnel could be reopened for rail service in the near future for passenger trains from Canada.
En terme de prix, c'est pas mal plus costaud qu'un simple Montréal-Québec. On parle ici d'un train qui prend 3 ou 4 jours pour faire le trajet. Jadis il y avait 4 trains qui partaient chaque jours de Montréal à destination de Vancouver, deux exploités par le Canadien National et deux autre par le Canadien Pacifique. Aujourd'hui il y a un train transcontinental tous les 3 jours. Il ne part plus de Montréal mais uniquement de Toronto.
7:09 Bloody showoff! That trick never works for me :/ As for departing the train most of the trains from Sarnia to where ever passengers usually can be seen at the doors to get off about 5 min. from the station
That work you saw when departing from Montreal is for the upcoming REM system - Réseau express métropolitain, a brand new 67km long automated rapid transit system that will use Alstom Metropolis rolling stock. It’ll be quite similar to the new Sydney Metro. The work outside of Montreal Central is the segment that will open first later this fall 2022 connecting downtown Montreal with South Shore.
The second part of that work is track upgrades in preparation for VIA Rail’s own HFR project - High Frequency Rail that will seek to build dedicated passenger tracks with electrification and grad separation along the entire Toronto to QC corridor service.
4:45 Those iron structures used to hold catenary wires. Exo commuter rail used to have electric trains, but it was discontinued in December of 2020.
Great review, but I wish you had included the Quebec station which I think is a rather impressive building.
4:49
Those works are for the REM, Montreal’s new light rail system that’s expected to open gradually from 2022 to 2024
REM isn't Light Rail at all, It's a full on Heavy Metro.
@@Dexter037S4 same thing. According to Wikipedia, it is a light rail. Full on heavy metro would be something like the Montreal Métro or the Toronto Subway, using trains that are over 6 cars long. Light rail systems uses trains that are less than 6 or 4 cars long.
@@D_Ban number of carriages has absolutely no correlation to type of train light rail is trams with a right of way
Fortunately VIA rail will replace its fleet with the new one from Siemens. But still, they have to deal with sharing the tracks with the freight train which cause VIA services to run slower and less frequent than it supposed to be.
That being said, they are planning to build new tracks, dedicated to VIA rail that will allow for significantly higher frequencies and higher speeds.
@@senorsoupe they were suppose to offer improve service in the 80s with the introduction of the LRC that had been design for a top speed of 125 mph bit that never append and even the last 10 LRC engine were gear for a top speed of 103mph instead of 125mph since the goverment new that the tracks would not been improve to allow an higher speed than 100mph ...
I would only believe in the HSR when the train will start using it ...
VIA's Budd coaches may top off at 100 MPH, but when you go around 170 miles in three and a half hours, that averages out to around 50 MPH. VIA has no intentions of building new bridges over the St. Lawrence River, or build new tracks in urban Montreal and Quebec City. Top speed isn't average speed. To achieve a much higher average speed, intermediate stops have to close. Something Canadians are not prepared to sacrifice...
NGL, pretty excited for the new (bidirectional)! train sets from Siemens. The new dedicated tracks should also make a huge difference in on time performance.
@@jy6283 The plan isn’t for HSR (High Speed Rail) but HFR (High Frequency Rail). The trains will travel a bit faster than today, but not at HSR speeds (similar to Europe’s InterCity (IC) service) . As a result construction cost will be significantly lower making the project more likely to succeed. It also doesn’t complete directly with the airlines (but with personal automobiles instead) so the airlines won’t lobby against it (the lobbyists have a lot of political power).
For me as a european this trips on NA are very exotic and interesting to see them :) One day hope to try them as well.
well you can but the thing is you will always get a minimum 30min delay because the priority is always the CN and CP since they own the tracks also, the wifi often doesnt work for some reason.
The Pont-du-Quebec bridge is the last bridge on the river, it gets far too wide east of Quebec City. Both collapses happened during construction, costing a lot of lives (first one claimed 75 men, at least 33 were Mohawk First Nations Iron Workers. The worst lost of life in bridge construction ever. The second time they were attempting to lift the final center section when something in the lift mechanism failed, and it dropped the section, taking 13 men with it into the river (that section is still there, they received special permission (due to shortages for WWI) to acquire more steel to rebuild it and finish the bridge).) The bridge was at the limits of the technology, available materials and engineering knowledge of the time period.
So impressed w/the genuine interest you film your rail journeys. Your'e an Einstein of rail travel. Thank you!
Thank you for showcasing Canada again. A note on the catenary towers near the beginning: the approach to Central Station through the Mount Royal Tunnel was already electrified before the station was completed. During construction, it was decided to extend electrification to Point St. Charles coach yard and Turcot maintenance facility so that steam engines could be swapped out for electrics before entering downtown. Dieselization made the swap unnecessary and the lines were taken down south of the station.
What can we say? Budd don't break. A popular saying among American railfans regarding the high quality workmanship of the Budd Co., which explains their cars' longevity even over contemporaries like Pullman Standard, which often rust out long before equivalent Budd cars.
I have to say, based on your experience with Brightline in Florida, until a few days ago I was rather excited to see the new Venture coaches entering service with Amtrak; finally, some European modernity reaching American rails. But after seeing photos and anecdotes of the new cars on a trial run a few days ago, my excitement has turned to horror; unlike Brightline, it seems that Amtrak has learned all the wrong lessons from Euro coach design; hard uncomfortable seats, bright sterile environment, everything looking half-baked and bolted together (granted it's still early days and this was a public trial, but given Amtrak's reputation there's nothing to indicate that this isn't how they'll go into service). Older cars like the Budd fleet seen here and even Amtrak's own Amfleet cars have survived so long for a reason; they still do the job and passengers like them. And in this age of rail having to win people back from air and road, I'm not convinced that an uncomfortable experience aboard soulless modern Venture stock is going to do the job.
Amtrak had very little say in the design of the new Siemens cars that just went into service because the Midwest states purchased them and specified what type of interiors to use. Most likely the coaches Amtrak purchases for their own trains will have a more comfortable interior more akin to the Brightline trains, since they will have more of a say in the process this time.
My ex wife and I took this train from Toronto to Quebec City for our honeymoon. I loved it. Such beautiful scenery and at a very reasonable cost.
Quebec City was wonderfu. So much history.
5:37 These MR-90 EMUs are no longer in service because the Deux-Montagnes Line (which these EMUs run on) is being replaced by REM, an automated light metro project in the Montreal area.
Before the renovation of the line and the introduction of the MR-90, that line was a real railway museum with old electric boxcab and coaches as you could see in this video ruclips.net/video/AzjmvBH8AwI/видео.html
To bad that those trains are now gone (at least however some electrics boxcab had been preserve ...
Press F for the mr-90 bois.
took the Canadian from vancouver to toronto in 2002, the service was great, the food was delicious and done perfectly, and scenery was fantastic, especially the rockies during winter. enjoyed jasper, winnipeg etc.
VIA use the same seats as the Austrian OBB.
The business class uses the same seat as the economy. So the seat width is not very impressive. The only improvement is VIA enhanced a bit the recline angle.
Don't be surprised by all the modern features of this train. VIA keep renovating them. HEP 2 fleet is the "newest". While the HEP 1 is the old veteran. The toilet even features the Canadian Pacific logo.
Also...the 1st class seats on most German ICE 3 trains are almost the same as those in economy class in the renovated LRC and HEP2 cars.
I personally prefer the previous generation (similar to what you see on this train in Economy but with different colours)
@@LiamWalsheliamskitchen My preference is the HEP 1. They were briefly in service on the corridor during 17-19. They have retained their long distance coach configuration. That is so comfortable. It is unmatchable by any other type of seat.
Unfortunately when VIA renovated its LRC and HEP2 fleets, VIA purchased a seat that could have a greater angle of recline but limited them into a comfortable ish angle in economy class :(
@@he11ange1 Indeed, those HEP 1 cars are a treat if you get them in the corridor. They've actually been used in the corridor for much longer than that - mostly on trains 85 and 88 (presently not running), where they usually used 2 car trains consisting of a HEP 1 and a HEP 2 (and sometimes a second HEP 1 depending on demand). The HEP 2 was often a declassified business class car, but in later times was a regular coach.
I believe HEP2 and some HEP1 cars are not CP originals. Some are Ex Amtrak and were acquired in the 90s
I LOVE your videos and watch every one as soon as posted. My late father was a conductor in the US Army transporting prisoners from Italy to Germany. He obviously had trauma from this because he would never speak about it unless he was riding in a train to recall those horrific war days.
Only a few months before Dads passing he told me that at every stop he had to load body bags of killed soilders.
Anyway I have 2 suggested for you.
Lets see more of yourself. You are a attraction guy! Dont be so shy !
Next your bottom English explanation passes by VERY QUICKLY. I find myself often going back anywhere from 2 to 4 times to read it all. And that breaks my chain of thoughts.
But you film very well
Gary
12:19 “maybe a habit from flying too much”. Exactly what I was thinking! Splendid report, as always.
So delighted for another video from my hometown of Montreal! Lovely to see Central Station and the Art Deco decor. And amazing to see Montreal out the train window.
Hmm, I’m not sure I appreciate the “grandma” comment about the age of the railcars, lol.
I haven’t been to Quebec City by train for 40+ years. I’m used to travelling to Toronto on this corridor and the interiors there do seem more up to date.
It will be great to see the new VIA Rail equipment - I’ve seen videos of it and it’s impressive. There have been attempts at new trains, even high speed ones, on the Quebec-Windsor corridor over the past decades and I travelled on one of the “high speed” ones in, maybe, the 70s before it was scrapped. These attempts failed because they had not been tested in Canada’s extreme winter weather conditions. Unbelievable.
And I love travelling to New York on Amtrak out of Montreal and I can’t wait until it opens up again!
Those stainless steel Budd coaches (and sleepers) have lasted much longer than the steel locomotives that pull them... Three generatuibs of diesel locomotives have pulled the Budd coaches and sleepers...
4:45. The overhead structures once held catenary wires for electric trains. Starting around 1910 when then Mount Royal tunnel opened. CN extended wires over all the station tracks, approaches, and entering the yards for shuttling trains with electric locos to avoid using steam locos in the station. When diesel engines made steam obsolete, electric operations were cut back to only the steep tunnel and Duex Montages commuter service that it uses. Most of the unneeded structures stayed up for many decades as CN never bothered to tear them down.
Nice video!
At 5:40, those coaches that you saw - used to serve the only electrified commuter train line in Canada (From Montreal to Deux-Montagnes, a suburb).
While I never rode on that line before (I'm not from Montreal but I live in Toronto and knew a friend in Montreal who knows about those trains), the commuter is being converted to a rapid transit line currently under construction.
One of the branches of that rapid transit will serve Deux-Montagnes, the others will serve the YUL airport, the South Shore and the West Island. It is expected to be open between this year (2022) and 2024.
Thanks for this Thibault, nice to see the old Budd cars are still in service with modern interiors!
Thank you for sharing your video about trip Montréal to Québec City in business class !
It looks comfortable, relaxing ride, can see you have the whole row to yourself !!!
Correction: That incarnation of the Victoria Bridge was built in 1897...still old. Only a few of the stone masonry piers date to 1860.
The enclosed baggage compartments and nets on the shelves for luggage at the ends of the car is a safety feature implemented after a derailment where evacuation was hindered by suitcases that had fallen into the aisle and blocked the path. I was unfortunate enough to have been working on a train that did derail many years after these features were introduced and they did keep items in place when one of the cars ended up on it’s side.
Also in “economy” (standard) class the service is snack and beverage at the seat. The galley is used to store the carts in the refrigerated lower compartment and dry supplies (cups, napkins, etc) get loaded into the square overhead compartments in bins with trays. The commissary and crew dispatch in Montreal (and Toronto) supply and staff trains based on the passenger counts. Since the past 10 years consists have been pretty standard at all times but when I was working for VIA I had some trains up to 9 cars (2 business class and 7 economy) which would total over 500 passengers if sold out.
I find the design of the new Siemens coaches surprising in they have gone back to open overhead luggage racks without doors.
@@haweater1555 Yes I was surprised as well. Keep waiting to see if they have to retro fit to address this issue.
Glad you enjoyed this trip, Thibault, it's one of my favourite journeys on the VIA Rail network. I just another vid from someone who took the 2nd revenue service of the new Siemens trainsets on the Montréal-Ottawa line earlier this week, so I'll have to check that out sometime soon (Ottawa being my home station). If you do get back to Canada, it would be great if you can catch the LRC set and Siemens set.... and perhaps the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver!
I agree business class is almost identical to Acela ICE and AVE. And VIA Rail obviously takes good care of their rolling stock.
Sorry the weather wasn't better.
Thank you Thibault for a great report.😀😀♥️♥️
Your canadian train videos make me wish I could ride Via more often! No passenger trains here in Calgary, but i try and use trains whenever i can while travelling. Never travelled on the Corridor, but Via”s long-distance economy seats (I believe they’re from the HEP-1 refit in the 90s) are pretty acceptable, plenty of legroom and a good amount of recline. Not a bad spot for a nap, since berths are so expensive. The boarding area you mentioned has dutch doors that can be opened, on less busy routes you can sometimes persuade your Service Manager to let you get some photos. Via has some of the coolest retro passenger equipment in service anywhere, you’ve got to try out a train with a dome car next! Nothing is sacred when it comes to Canadian passenger trains, so who knows how long Via lasts outside the corridor
I don't even know how Via got rid of the Calgary line. They did the same to Fredericton and I'm angry about that, but Calgary has over 1 million people, it's stupid to remove the track and they've lost so much revenue.
Excellent trip report !
I did this trip last summer round trip in business class one day.
Yes Via's crews are excellent!!!
Thanks for sharing this trip with us...:):):)
You can also try railway services from Asian countries. There are many great services there.
I was wondering why he hasn’t yet 🤔
He lives in Europe and went on a long trip to North America last year. In the future he may travel to other places around the world
@@jamtrack7867 I think he was working in the US for a while as well
@@greatwolf5372
Spot on. Working in Kansas City for its metro I believe with Alstrom...
When I was on the train from Toronto to Montreal to head back home to Halifax, I was on a Business class seat and it had a large table that sat four people at. The food was very good and it included all beverages including alcoholic drinks too
The only trains I have ridden in the US are commuter trains here in the Chicago area. It takes longer for us to get to any of the intercity stations in the region than it does to either airport. The only intercity train trip I've ever taken, believe it or not, was this route, when my wife and I flew to Montreal then immediately took the train to Quebec City in 1991!. My most vivid recollection was that the trees were not trimmed back very far from that single track--some branches seemed to nearly touch the windows, which at 90 mph was rather disorienting. I also now recall wondering what the train was doing with that slow turnaround in Sainte-Foy. Three days later, we returned to Gare du Palais and saw several empty motor coaches outside. As soon as we entered, we were informed that a bad storm had knocked down a number of trees in that single track section, rendering it impassable, so we would return to Montreal on one of those coaches. Given what I had noted about the trees on the way to QC, I honestly wasn't all that surprised that the route was blocked due to storm damage.
12:06 ... it's a massive detour but geography around this area made it impossible to avoid, if not it would be a very sharp hill to the bottom of the "valley"
Montreal Central station was a through station until recently, until the REM programme mentioned by others rendered the tunnel unusable by VIA. Not sure how much this has added to the schedule.
I've always loved travelling on VIA, the staff are always exceptional and the business class food excellent (for airline food). They are very generous with drinks in the evenings too!
The fact that the mont-royal tunnel is not available now doesn't change anything now since the train from Québec city used the south shore line so the train had to back up in Montreal to either Ponite St-Charles or pont Victoria to continue the trip to either Quebec City or Ottawa.
However, with the HFR, the plan is to use the tunnel to reach the north shore line to Québec City via Trois-Rivières instead of the actual line so that the train would not need to reverse direction at Montreal (however, with the new trainset, this is no longer going to be an issue since those train would have the capacity to run in either direction ...). Also unlike the CN line on the south shore, the former CP line on the north shore doesn't see a lot of trains so the line is more suitable for the project, but will require a huge investment since the quality of the line doesn't allow decent speed.
What is unclear also is the possibility for Via Rail to run there train in the tunnel since the caisse de depot want an exclusive access for the REM project ...
I love taking trains from this station, it is so welcoming and has some great amenities
I like that you mention The Ocean train, that is the one I have taken most often to travel in the maritimes
Have done this route many times and always in Renaissance equipment. Thanks for sharing.
3:33 - what you show as an ICE is actually the spanish AVE 103, doesn't seem like thats been pointed out. But obviously the Velaro ES stems from the German 403/406. Cheers
Yet another great trip report. I wait all week for these. Thanks and keep up the good work.👍
Hello, could you review the south shore line in Indiana/Chicago? It's the last interurban railroad in the u.s and is fully electrified. Thanks!
Actually, the HEP2 Coaches here will be refurbished again and used on the Canadian and other services like to Churchill etc. It's only the LRC's that are getting retired. But these coaches won't be on the corridor anymore, just used in other areas of VIA's network. They are stainless steel frame and essentially could last another 100 years.
Although the railway between Montréal and Québec does permit 160 km/h, the Budd coaches are only permitted to travel up to 153 km/h.
Looks like a good trip. I'm impressed with the breakfast!
Awesome video, Simply Railway! Im looking forward for more awesome content. Keep it up!😄👍
I wondered as well. Years ago we hosted an exchange student from France. When she heard some Quebecois speaking, she asked us what language that was.
Sorry, thought I was replying to the query about French vs. Québécois language.
the galley and baggage area is the front of the car, not the rear. All coaches run vestibule end forward.
ive been on 6 via rail trains. 4 of which within the corridor of windsor - quabec city and also the ocean. all in economy
Some of the smoothest riding equipment I've ever been on were those old Budd cars; of course, that was almost 40 years ago when these cars were "only" 40 years old. But talk about comfort - Amtrak at that time had kept the same seats and layout they had had under the old Santa Fe, with only 48 seats in the entire car. Even as a really tall teenager (6'4"), I couldn't touch the seat in front of me. I've really been hoping to get a ride on some of VIA's Budd cars while they last, but I have a feeling I'm going to miss my chance. I understand progress and that these cars are now 80 years old, but it'll still be a shame when they're gone.
Business class on the LRC's are almost identical setup. these on the Corridor wont be around for much longer with the new fleet coming next year but the Budds will survive in other area's
I used to travel from Montréal to Québec city by bus. This video encourage to travel this route by train.
I recommend you Kishinev-Bucharest:Its a sovietic trip if you chose sovietic wagons,if you chose romanian wagons (CFR) its not :))).I recommend
@Simpily Railway I was in montreal taking the VIA Corridor from Montreal - Toronto on the same week this was recorded! Wow!
What a great trip. I think this is my first time seeing P42DC with Via Rail Canada livery, previously I always see P42DC only at Amtrak livery/another passenger rail company in US. Also what a classic coach, and surprising me it can run faster despite it old age. The replacement of this train for Siemens looks amazing, can't wait.
Canada's Trunk Corridor has signals geared for 100 mph top speed, but the rest of Canada's railroads are alike the USA's railroads, signals geared for 79 mph top speed. While VIA's trains can top out at 100 mph, their freight trains don't go faster than 79 mph which can and does slow down VIA's passenger trains.
Also you weren’t that far from a part of France itself on that trip. St-Pierre and Miquelon islands off Newfoundland
Have you ever considered Amtraks Winter Park Express Ski Train? Goes from Denver to the Winter Park Ski Resort weekends thru April.
Your comment about the language being spoken is not unusual. I've heard Frenchmen say that the language spoken in Quebec is not French, just as some Brits say that the language spoken in the U.S. is not English!
A quick note for why this coach looks like ICE - is because, actaully, VIA ordered slightly modified Grammer ICE 3000 seats!
Thanks for this video! Taken these trains many times but never all the way up to Quebec. Hope you get to try the LRC and the new Siemens coaches at some point too. The LRC is great, even in standard class the seats are amazing and lots of room.
Thank you for all this
nice experiences you share with us. Since Childhood i love trains. Why in europa people run to the train doors are the small time to get your next train. You know that.love ❤ your Videos. Regards from Germany. By the Way. My best experiences riding a train was in Sri lanka . Open doors and me and some People. From Colombo to Bentota.
Good video. I also notice that they was a renaissance trainset at gare du palais across the platform. By the way, Renaissance trainset pull by a P42 are the only equipment allow to run at LRC speed witch including a strech on the Drummonville sudbivision were the speed limit is 100 mph between St nicolas and Laurier station (along autoroute 20 just before arriving at Charny) and 95 mph fot most of the run otherwise (except of course for the numerous restriction due to the numerous curves along the routes). Any other trainset (including the LRC that are no longer allow to run at LRC speed limit) are limited to 95 mph at some parts and 85 mph for most of the run. By the way, at my knowledge, HEP2 coaches are limited to 95 mph, I don't think that they are allow to run at higher speed and only the P42 are capable of 100mph, F40 have a top speed of 95 mph.
Also Québec city is north east of Montréal, but in fact is mainly east not north ...
The actual trivel time just show how bad train service is in Canada despite the quality of there employees.
Back at the creation of Via, in 1976, travel time between Montreal and Québec City was 2:59 minutes with old trains (fp9 or fpa4 locomotive and good old blue and yellow cars) that was limited to 85 mph.
In 1993 Via manage to make the run under 2:50 minutes with the LRC and a top speed of 95 mph.
Now you're going to be lucky to make the run under 3:30.
The story is the same between Montréal and Toronto as CN and later VIA managed to make the run in 3:59 with the turbo and later the LRC. Now, you would be lucky if you make that trip in less than 5:30 hours ... and the same is true with any train in Canada.
Canada is probably the only country were every train is slower than 40 years ago.
Even in the US, if some trains take more time than 40 years ago, other are faster like the acela in comparaison with the metroliner they replace ...
Also worth mentioning that as for the F40's top speed, only 6401-6436 and 6459 are capable of 95 MPH. The rest are only capable of 90 MPH.
Great video dude. I'm traveling to Halifax middle of February on the Ocean. Just a FYI note. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario etc. are provinces not states! Thought you'd want to know this factoid. Train travel is the way to go as compared to flying or driving. Travel safe
c'etait jolie le train j'ai bien aime le train les siege sont magnifique j'ai adore la video je kiffe la video sympli railway
Try "Business" for lunch or dinner, I think it's amongst the best on board food n wine of any train. To add to the airline feel the catering company only does certain airlines and only one train company out side EU.
I love your content. Keep posting. Thanks.
Those new train sets I believe are here in the states (Colorado)
Canadians (Canadiens) are polite. That's why they remain seated.
The entry to Central Station was orginally electrified in 1917 by the Canadian Northern Railway (now part of CN) in order to gain access to downtown Montreal through the Mount Royal tunnel, which the CNo had built. Ancient 1917 - built box-cab electrics hauled commuter trains through this tunnel until 1995, pulling equally ancient sleepers stripped of their interiors for high-density comutter service. As these old cars were still steam-heated and the electrics had no steam generators, so travel in winter could be brutal - the only heat from the packed-in bodies of your fellow commuters! This service lasted 75 years, it's replacement only 25, let's hope the REM service is a bit longer lived.
Love your journeys. Can you show some wheelchair access on your journeys, I love to travel but now I am wheelchair bound. It’s always easier to think about going if you can see it’s going to be a smooth transition. I am looking at doing London to Amsterdam soon. Many thanks x
The seats reminde me so much of RegioJet Astra coaches, but in RegioJet they are as a standard class and have infotaiment screen per seat, you shout try them
11:35 In 1909, 1916 and any time soon. CN (Canadien National, a Canadian railways company), the owner of the bridge is really negligent.
By the way, the LRC trains were almost history 20 years ago. The have been replaced by dispised British Renaissance trains. I am very happy to see that Renaissance trains are also history.
But the Budd cars keep going on and on, like the Eveready battery bunny...
What about subways? As a Brooklynite I'd love to hear your opinion of the huge system that is the New York City Subway.
I have been around the world. New York City does have a nice network of subways, but alas, they are filthy underground stations poorly lit...
I would like to recommend you do an LRC trip before they get replaced with the new train sets.
Also, don’t let the seats at 8:24 fool you. The seats themselves may be comfortable, but the cars that they were in (hep2 or blue/yellow stripes) have an uncomfortable suspension, unlike the LRC
It is already done, not yet published on RUclips ;)
Totally unrelated to trains, however I’m curious, how easy is it for you to understand Canadian French? Because I’ve heard that it’s very different from the French spoken in France.
Yes, I am curious also!
I can speak from experience going in the other direction (Canadian who has visited Europe), and chances are unless you’re talking to someone with a strong accent in Quebec, you can be understood by any other French speaker. We do have some weird quirks in Quebec where France just uses the English words, but Quebec has a different one (parking/stationement) but nothing major.
The Canadians did a lot of rebuilds on those old Budd. It might be a place called Moncton???
The problem with the tables between facing seats in the Siemens photo is that they have proven that when passengers are thrown forward against them in collisions, they cause grievous injuries to the abdomen. I don't know why they're keeping this design.
It should be noted that these Budd cars won't in fact be retired just yet. After the corridor cars are all replaced by the Siemens sets, they'll be moved to the long distance fleet, bolstering it. The LRC and Renaissance fleets will be retired and replaced by the Siemens sets and the reassigned Budd cars will replace the Ocean's Renaissance sets. The well built budds will have the absolute most gotten out of them before being finally replaced
During the next government, or the next after than, at some point the Budd fleet will have to be replaced with new sleepers and coaches for VIA's long distance overnight routes...
@@ronclark9724 Currently, the plan is to only order new cars to replace the Ocean's renaissance sets. Said new cars would have to be compatible with the budds. There isn't a real rush to retire the budds especially since they just all got refurbished. They're good for another 10 or so years
I always find it weird that Via doesn't have cafe cars like Amtrak. It's not like one giant galley takes up that much space. But oh well, airlines inspired trains it is. At least all we got was Amcans.
I am so used to traveling on Amtrak trains, I would love to ride VIA Rail trains one time.
Personally, I like the old Budd coaches. They have character and charm that modern trains lack
👍🏻🏴 The corrugated aluminium gives strength and these coaches were stunning when new inspiring French and Swedish unpainted versions.
The vastness of North America’s landscapes always amazes. Those distances unfortunately explain why most choose to take the plane.
That also explains why the continent’s passenger services are so behind the times. Thank you for your video. Canadian French must be instantly recognisable like South American Spanish. Of course Americans haven’t spoken English since 1776!? 🙂
Not aluminum, the exterior and entire car structure is stainless steel by Budd. Heavy but extremely strong and corrosion resistant. They will outlast any other type of car.
Stainless steel, not aluminum... Amtrak's Superliners and Viewliners are also stainless steel... Amtrak's Horizons fleet is aluminum though...
I would love to see you take the VIA trains from Halifax, NS to Vancouver, BC. I am contemplating taking that journey myself.
Can’t wait until next year when they start running brand new Siemens trains asking The Corridor. Along with track upgrades that’ll allow faster service, it’ll become so much better over the coming years!
Although I'm embarrassed by the condition of the seats in the standard class coach, generally I enjoy travelling Via Rail, usually from Toronto to Windsor. I used to ride those Budd coaches when I was a kid back in the 60s! Hopefully one day we'll have a European-style train service in Canada
Canada doesn't invest heavily into infrastructure. Notice there is NOT a paved highway to the Arctic Ocean yet. Nor is there a controlled access highway coast to coast. When Thibault finally rides the Canadian he will be disappointed in the condition of the railroad tracks. He should be ready for a bumpy ride...
The Exo MU cars at Montreal are in DEAD STORAGE, no idea of their ultimate disposition. Only built in 1994.
Via Rail HEP2 cars include business class cars 4000-4009 and higher capacity coaches in the 4100 series. They were originally built late 1940s early 1950s for several US railroads, many but not all belonged to Amtrak.
At least Exo will send one unit to the exporail museum
What's also interesting is that 4007, 4008, and 4009 were actually regular coaches (4123, 4124, and 4125 respectively) that received a new galley and a few other modifications, such as the removal of some seats. For a period of time, they had a slightly different interior than the other HEP2 business cars (seats were exactly the same as economy, but with increased legroom and recline, but they didn't have the same headrests and seat fabric that 4000-4006 did). Eventually they got the same interior that the LRC business class cars had (2-2), and now they're converting them into the 2-1 seating you see here.
I personally liked the old seating that these HEP2 cars once had. Yes, it was 2-2, but the seats were a lot more comfortable and there was tons of recline. I particularly liked seat 55 (as it was called back then) because it had extra legroom and assuming there was nobody in the wheelchair spot behind it, you could recline fully without disturbing anyone. Oh...and the middle armrest went up unlike the LRCs, so if nobody was next to you, you could stretch out.
The Exo MUs I don't think will be scrapped, they'll likely be sold to CalTrain likely for testing since the cars can be used for that.
@@Dexter037S4 Caltrain already purchased an ex-Amtrak AEM 7 for that
The Second Class interiors are the older, un-refurbished interiors, your First Class is a roomier version of the Refurbished Second Class interior. I much prefer the Leather seats to the older cloth ones since the plastic isn't old and creaky, and the seat cushions feel more uniform, plus the grey and orange looks more high end compared to the old burgundy and cream
Why trains toward north start their travels backward? Doesn't exist a direct link between Montreal Central station south throut and the "Quebec line"?
Canada is far behind other countries for train service. All public announcements are in English and French. Travel is better in other seasons than winter. However I would love to take this train.
The Business seats are same as the Railjet First class seats 🤟😃
Canada has two official languages. English and French. Yes Canada should update and upgrade the passenger train service. We should have trains and services like other countries.
Canada does not even have a paved road to the Arctic Ocean yet. When Nunavut became a separate territory it was promised a deep water port thirty years ago... Where is it? There is much, much more to Canada than southern Ontario...
I tried business class from Ottawa to Toronto once. Although it's nice to have hot meal, the car is too close to the engine, which makes the experience not very good. I would rather choose economy class.
11:30 such a nice fact to share... you should have told that to the co passengers as well ..🤣🤣
I'm surprised that the VIA rail coaches are *older* then the Amfleets used on the Northeast Corridor, but are just as nice on the inside!
Entirely rebuilt on the inside to resemble LRCs. I've travelled on Amfleet coaches from Toronto / Niagara Falls, and not impressed. The curved shape cuts into room and the windows are tiny,
@@haweater1555 The Amfleet coaches are designed to fit into New York City's tunnels... Most of the Amfleet coaches are on trains serving New York City...
This coach are ok. Good upgrade of interiore and service
You should try Canadian sometime from Toronto to Vancouver
I'm excited for the new ViaRail coaches. Especially since there is a chance that the windsor tunnel could be reopened for rail service in the near future for passenger trains from Canada.
Woooo Canada!!
J'espère que vous aller faire un vidéo sur le Canadien :-)
En terme de prix, c'est pas mal plus costaud qu'un simple Montréal-Québec. On parle ici d'un train qui prend 3 ou 4 jours pour faire le trajet. Jadis il y avait 4 trains qui partaient chaque jours de Montréal à destination de Vancouver, deux exploités par le Canadien National et deux autre par le Canadien Pacifique.
Aujourd'hui il y a un train transcontinental tous les 3 jours. Il ne part plus de Montréal mais uniquement de Toronto.
Do you know that VIA rail has a weight limitation on luggage, and yes, they do check it :)
Pretty unique Canada ;)
Are you intending on reviewing exo?
might be interesting mentioning the price/km (and miles) those trips ends up to be...
American and Canadian coach fares are very reasonable... It is the sleeper fares that are expensive...
@@ronclark9724 examples?
7:09 Bloody showoff!
That trick never works for me :/
As for departing the train most of the trains from Sarnia to where ever passengers usually can be seen at the doors to get off about 5 min. from the station
Mighty good trains. I like how the USA has massive trains compare to other countries. And business class is just so amazing.
This is Canada, not the US