Possible Maple Leaf changes?

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jiml

jiml

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
5,082
Location
Back in Southern Ontario
I have no idea whether something is afoot with Amtrak service on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, but ran into a strange situation while researching something else. It is not possible to book a Canada-only trip on the Maple Leaf after September 9, either on VIA Rail or Amtrak sites. If you call VIA you are told that train is "not in the schedule" and to call Amtrak. I did not call Amtrak, but I can book Toronto - NYP on their website as normal. GO Transit was supposed to announce service expansion to Niagara Falls, ON, this fall, but September would be much earlier than expected. One could speculate that the Maple Leaf is either going to run non-stop to the US side or be terminated there with GO picking up the slack on this side, but other than the scheduling anomaly I cannot find any facts to support either theory. Hoping others with better connections might have some input.
 
Nothing to do with GO or anything else. Work on the bridge across the Niagara River. Bustitution between Niagara Falls NY and Toronto for the duration with no stops in Canada (except on the Toronto bound service for C&I at Niagara Falls ON). It will last upto early November as I seem to recall.
 
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jis said:
Nothing to do with GO or anything else. Work on the bridge across the Niagara River. Bustitution between Niagara Falls NY and Toronto for the duration with no stops in Canada (except on the Toronto bound service for C&I at Niagara Falls ON). It will last upto early November as I seem to recall.
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Thanks. You would think VIA would be aware of that. They referred me to GO Transit for alternate transportation, of which several options are shown on the VIA website.
 
They do not appear to have posted a service advisory on twitter or on the web site yet. Hopefully they will before the change begins in September.

Amtrak's communication of service advisories and status leaves a lot to be desired.

I heard of it from an acquaintance in upstate NY.

Incidentally the Thruway Bus from Toronto is 4497 US bound and 4498 coming from the US
 
jiml said:
Thanks. You would think VIA would be aware of that. They referred me to GO Transit for alternate transportation, of which several options are shown on the VIA website.
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Sounds like an IT goof: They're referring people to GO Transit for local traffic during the time and somebody probably just mangled the order and took the entire train out instead of the domestic Canadian sites.
 
Anderson said:
Sounds like an IT goof: They're referring people to GO Transit for local traffic during the time and somebody probably just mangled the order and took the entire train out instead of the domestic Canadian sites.
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Yup, even the goof is a joint Amtrak-VIA operation!o_O

The only place where everything appears almost correctly is on the Amtrak reservation and ticketing page, though I could not coax it into letting me travel from Toronto to Niagara Falls NY. It got confused between CBN and NFL and decided that NFL does not exist. :oops:

Someone just posted that VIA has a service advisory up somewhere, if you know where to look for such. I have not found it yet.
 
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Here is the advisory that came out:

Whirlpool Bridge Work Affects Maple Leaf Service

Whirlpool Bridge Work Affects Maple Leaf Service
Effective September 9 - November 1, 2019
Beginning Monday, September 9, a major infrastructure project will begin on the Whirlpool Bridge, connecting the United States to Canada at Niagara Falls. To accommodate this work, Maple Leaf service will be adjusted as follows:

Train 63: September 8 - November 1
Train 63 which normally operates between New York Penn Station and Toronto, ON, will terminate at Niagara Falls, NY. Alternate transportation will be provided between Niagara Falls and Toronto, stopping at Niagara Falls, ON.
Bus 4498 will operate between Niagara Falls and Toronto with no intermediate stops at St. Catharines, ON, Grimsby, ON, Aldershot, ON and Oakville, ON.
Train 64: September 9 - November 2
Train 64 which normally operates between Toronto and New York Penn Station, will originate at Niagara Falls, NY. Alternate transportation will be provided between Toronto and Niagara Falls, stopping at Niagara Falls, ON.
Bus 4497 will operate between Toronto and Niagara Falls with no intermediate stops at Oakville, ON, Aldershot, ON, Grimsby, ON or St. Catharines, ON.
Proper documentation is required to cross the U.S./Canadian border.
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Keep an eye on the website because the date for restoration will likely get pushed back a week to 11/8-11/9.
 

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