Back in Post #10 of this thread I attempted to make a comparison between VIA Rail and Amtrak using what I
thought were VIA Rail "buckets" to arrive at average fares. Since then, I've discovered what I believe to be VIA Rail's actual "bucket" system as outlined here:
https://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/lecanadien/price_list_en.pdf?ga_pdf=compare-prices It's simply based on peak and off-peak travel seasons (two seasons) and the fare difference between the two is about 33% when fares (including taxes) for two adults in a cabin for two are compared for the same route as before (Hornepayne ON to Vancouver BC). Hornepayne was chosen as that route length differs from that of the Empire Builder by only 0.09%.
Fares were then gleaned from the websites of both rail systems (with those for VIA converted to US$): VIA's peak and off-peak and Amtrak's high and low buckets for two adults in a Cabin For Two (VIA) and a Bedroom (Amtrak). The low, high and (linear) average fares for each and the number of meals served on each are:
• VIA Rail: Low = $3489; High = $4651; Average = $3094; 8 meals
• Amtrak: Low = $918; High = $2060; Average = $1489; 5 meals
VIA serves three more meals than Amtrak, so those two passengers could have a total of six more meals on VIA and the difference between the average fares amounts to $3904 - $1489 = $1605. Making the bold assumption the sleeper accommodations by themselves are somewhat equivalent in value we could further loosely conclude those 6 extra meals on VIA appear to have an average (linear) value $1605 ÷ 6meals = $268 each. And for those preferring a
non-linear average, using the geometric mean for each rail systems yields $281 per meal.