If you are heading up to Canada to take a VIA Rail train, you may want to hold off a few days/weeks as VIA Rail engineers are on strike. As a precaution, VIA begin canceling trains with the strike pending. Engineers and yardmasters have been working without a contract since December 31, 2006. This affects 350 engineers and yardmasters.
Refunds are available or you can change your tickets for a different date.
So far, the Malahat and Lake Superior are unaffected, I believe. The only cross-border run affected so far is the Maple Leaf, turning back at Niagara Falls. The Adirondack and Amtrak Cascades are running.
Of course the Amtrak Cascades is running, they are not run by VIA rail.
Ditto for Adirondack. That’s also Amtrak
If there exists a national train system with worse service than Amtrak, VIA Rail manages to be that system. Any time your Amtrak train is inexplicably 10 hours late and replaced with a coach bus, remember that it could actually be worse.
In terms of availability, VIA is much worse than Amtrak. VIA however hands down, beats the pants off Amtrak when it comes to hospitality, super clean and comfortable rooms and seats, nicer, cleaner restrooms, and bar none, nicer train crews…but of course, you are paying for those premiums
I have to agree. When I rode the Canadian, it was BAR NONE the nicest staff I have ever had the pleasure of riding with.
They actually enjoyed their jobs. Which is what I think is the problem with Amtrak (and why they should hire me lol)
THat was fast, both sides agreed to binding arbitration, the trains will begin rolling again. They should have agreed to it Friday, the Teamsters already had had an effect in the West when trains were canceled mid-week. Although the way to get the attention where the people are, is for trains in the corridor to be effected by job actions.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/26/via-strike-ends.html?ref=rss
VIA operates a diverse fleet of trains, from The Corridor, to Long Disntace Services, to remote service trains which the latter includes 2 RDC runs(Malahat, Lake Superior), and possibly the last regularly scheduled Mixed Train in North America, 290/291 between the The Pas and Pukatawagan, Manitoba.(Connects with the Hudson Bay at The Pas). The Alaska Railroad does have an FRA waiver to run mixed Passenger/Freight Trains, and did run one a few months ago, but it is not done on a regular basis.