Recent content by TheMalahat

Nope. On the Chateaux C & D "Rooms for Two" have an opening wall. Annoyingly/amusingly the "Room for 3" photo on Via's booking page for the Ocean/Churchill is actually a "Room for 4" (made up of two Rooms for 2 in what I think is a Manor?)

Hey that's me! This was right before taking a 90 minute delay for a braking issue, about half of which was made up prior to Montreal. One of the HEP sleepers was revenue service, one for crew and one was empty. A few crew on the 14 I was on days earlier seemed like seasonal trainees. The 14 I...

I don't think Noel Philips has been mentioned yet? Or if I did, here is the channel again anyways! He only has three Amtrak LD videos but they're well done and he calls it as he sees it, but politely. And his family with him adds a dimension I appreciate. His travels beyond Amtrak are very...

This is unlikely, albeit not impossible. The way the budget is written is effectively a green light for Via to make the actual purchase. Practically, it should take six to ten months to get from today to contract being signed based on usual procurement timelines, keeping in mind expressions of...

The good news about Via being a Crown Corporation is they can run their own RFP; as long as Via can move relatively swiftly this purchase should be administered before the next election!

Long distance equipment replacement was essentially confirmed as funded in the Federal Budget today; specifically, to enter into a Request for Proposals. No details on scope etc. The RFP should be public and I'd assume released pretty quickly - that will answer at least what routes, and by...

I'd imagine they aren't posted as they change constantly? (Assuming we are talking about sleeper dining car service).

Via got the budget authority today to start the actual Request for Proposals for long distance equipment replacement. There's literally no details, as the government says "to protect its negotiation position" which makes a lot of sense. In any event quite relevant to this thread as we could...

While the actual reality of Amtrak's Charger woes can't be defined with what we know, I do think you're erred in this quote. Via does have higher reliability, in arguably often harsher conditions. We know this a few ways, not the least of which was Via's equipment reporting to Parliament last...

I'll pay for business Vancouver, BC -} Seattle just to skip the customs line if I'm with my family. Assuming it isn't a 300% upcharge, of course! Generally I'm willing to do about 50% ish.

Via, although quasi-independent, needs the government's authority for big purchases. Although there exceptions, you'll rarely see big purchases like this initiated in Canada from November to February-ish. In March you start seeing funding announcements for capital projects with funds released...

In fairness to Siemens, it's really looking like it's specifications from the State Order of Ventures that are causing issues unique to that order. Via hasn't had similar issues, and Brightline doesn't appear to have (but being fully private, if they did, maybe we wouldn't know with no reporting...

Military discount can be layered on almost everything. It's awesome, and definitely applies to the room. I'm eligible and have gotten some insane deals, and now that point redemption also applies to points I'm taking the Canadian, with family, for free this summer for literally half the points...

Oh America, such a funny place 😂 Via Rail just issued a RFP for 39 F40s to get life extensions into 2035. That's a suitable quantity for the whole long distance network. Hopefully this is timed to be generally with a combined-ish order with Amtrak. If Via doesn't purchase before the next...

This also allows anyone along the SkyTrain system to make it to Pacific Central on weekdays, and most of the system to make it on weekends. It was really tight for SkyTrain with the 635am start, particularly on weekends.