So when the Budd cars were built, they were built for the Canadian Pacific in the 1950s (for long-distance) and for US railroads in the 1940s (for the ones on the Corridor like this train like you looked up), hence why Amtrak inherited the latter for decades until they let VIA have them between 1989 and 2000 and VIA has since run them on the Quebec-Windsor Corridor. They were then rebuilt by AMF Technotransport in Montreal in the mid-1990s to use head end power and thus are often referred to as the "HEP" fleet, like on the safety information at 3:26. In 1995, CN awarded a contract to manage AMF to GEC-Alsthom, and CNR would sell it to them in 1996. GEC-Alsthom would later change its name to the Alstom we know today.
"Arrive es icky icky oo icky" I'm...glad that Miles is my French teacher 😂. London's current station opened in 1963 (though a station first opened there in 1853) and was rebuilt in 2001. The original Windsor station was built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1884 and closed in 1961 when it was relocated to its current location. The NY Central's train to Toronto and Montreal and Wolverine, as well as Amtrak's Niagara Rainbow train did not use this station. Instead, they used the Windsor Michigan Central Railroad Depot on the line leased from Canada Southern Railway until 1979 when service ceased. The VIA station's 1960s structure was announced to be replaced by a new structure in 2010 and reopened in 2012. And yes, that's Detroit at 11:53. Specifically the GM Renaissance Center, which wasn't always GM. The idea was first conceived by Henry Ford II, the Ford Motor Company Chairman of the time. In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the Detroit Renaissance to stimulate building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit. Henry Ford II sold the concept of the RenCen to the city. The principal architect was John Portman, the architect behind Atlanta's Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel and Peachtree Center and Los Angeles's Westin Bonaventure Hotel. The first phase opened in 1977, two more towers were added in 1981, and GM wouldn't purchase it until 1996.
Chatham's station building is from 1879 when the station first opened so I agree it's neat! Chatham was named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The settlement was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared by Chatham in England's Kent. Ciabatta is some quality bread for a sandwich! It was first created in 1982 by Arnaldo Cavallari in Veneto's Province of Rovigo because he was concerned about the popularity of baguettes imported from France endangering local bakers, so he came up with an Italian alternative after weeks of trying different variations of Italian bread recipes. It came to the US in 1987 through Orlando Bakery, a Cleveland firm, and three Italian bakers went to Orlando Bakery to develop it for mass production. Windsor is the oldest continually inhabited European-founded settlement in Canada west of Montreal as a French agricultural settlement was established there in 1749! The French first named it la Petite Côte or Little Coast because the coastline on the Windsor side was shorter than on the Detroit side, and later called it La Côte de Misère or Poverty Coast because of the sandy soils near LaSalle. After the American Revolution, a settlement called Sandwich was established there which was later renamed to Windsor after the famous town in England's Berkshire home to Windsor Castle. Like how Detroit has been a contributor to the US's car industry, Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's. It's also known as the City of Roses.
Miles. I challenge you to ride the entire Mississauga transitway start to finish. Kipling terminal to Meadowvale. You are allowed to look at each station as you go along. And you can take a stop at Square One for a lunch break. I know the Mississauga transitway like the back of my hand. I can guide you on this journey.
Note: the best food on the VIA trains in economy is the banana bread. And it’s cheap. The business class food / long distance (Canadian/Ocean) food is very high quality.
Yeah I can confirm the food on the Canadian is the best train food I've ever had. It wouldn't win awards in another context but for the limitations they do an incredibly good job and manage to keep up menu diversity despite having to reuse ingredients between days of the trip.
The thing about VIA is that their old seats were even more comfortable, even if the old suspension on the unrebuilt Budd cars, and the LRC's were a bit on the bouncy side Also the sandwich you had is hit or miss, the Ham croissant is a far better option
"the same rights" liiiike not being allowed HRT? Or not being allowed in the bathroom of your preferred gender? Or simply the right to EXIST?@@adellis24
Those are Budd coaches built in Philadelphia. Not to far from my house actually. Cars with the yellow strip I think were built for The Super Continental.
Are you talking about the new Venture based consists? I would be a bit curious since it's so similar to the Brightline and Amtrak Venture cars if there would be any noticeable difference other than looks. I know about the head pillow which is a nice addition which will appear on the Amtrak Airo consists too but what else is really different?
I mostly ride on The Ocean route, which uses the Renaissance railcars (surplussed from a never-run sleeper car service through the Channel Tunnel in the 90s), which do not enjoy the seats on at all, and they feel a lot older than your HEP car looked. On the bright side, being a long-distance route, you do get the diner and cafe cars; on the downside frequency is 3x per week, so you can't really even call it a transportation option. Amtrak-wise, I've only been on the Downeaster, which hands-down wins for me on seats and frequency.
@@MilesinTransit Well I do know the carriages were originally designed for overnight service so my guess is they're so high up so that a suitcase could slide underneath your seat without impeding comfort for your overnight trip. Thats just my guess looking at their weird configuration.
Rode VIA rail from Quebec City to Montreal last wednesday, we had an identical car. It wasn't too bad, first time I rode VIA in 40 years. The station in Quebec City was beautiful (old 1915 CP rail station built to service the Chateau Frontenac CP hotel, it replaced the original 1850 station). Gotta admit my $39 cheapie seat on VIA was more comfortable than the first class seat on Amtrak last year (Seattle to Portland).
The Ottawa-Quebec line has pretty much all been upgraded to the new trains by now (with some rare exceptions) and they are so much better than the old ones from this video. More space, more little things like additional usb plugs, much more comfortable (they ARE brand new after all)
they aren't ex-British Railways stock .. the Nightstock were vaunted as though British Rail Mk V coaches, yet were actually procured by some international consortium bent on having these then-sleepers ply the Chunnel overnight .. their refurbishments post-delivery took FOREVER and ridiculously appear the clunkiest ever of that once-familiar tiny loading guage of theirs ;)
it’s worth noting that most of VIA’s corridor runs over CN track whereas most of the Northeast Regional route is owned by Amtrak, so delays are much more prevalent on VIA, but Amtrak’s OTP could still be a lot better especially on Virginia trains which use CSX or NS.
Then you get the western Amtrak trains which get heavily delayed by UPRR and BNSF freight. Though the California Zeyphr I think still manages to get priority for the Moffat tunnel and is pretty consistent at emerging from the west portal at Winter Park resort, CO at approximately 10AM. That spot is also Amtraks only non-station stop, when they run the winter ski train service, the Zephyr stops at the West Portal to drop skiers off at Winter Park, though I think they have to go to the Fraser station to catch the eastbound.
When I took the corridor between Toronto and Montreal, the train actually did get up to 150 km/h for significant stretches. It is sad that we can't do better than that though and the frequency should be so much higher given the potential ridership. Same issue with scheduling the way freight companies would like it. The HFR idea is a good one even if it's not an entirely new high speed line
The Siemens trains will be able to cruise at 160 km/h between Toronto and Montreal, vs 153 km/h with the current fleet. But the top speed isn't really the issue. The issue is all the slowdowns to switch tracks or delays due to freight or GO traffic
@@OntarioTrafficMan yeah, a big part of the HFR project is just creating dedicated track (at all) because there's no way they could have higher frequency without that
Hey Miles, if you want more Canadian content you should check out the Calgary LRT. It has one of the highest per capita ridership rates of any North American LRT despite being only a small 2 line system. Or OC Transport, a 1 line LRT that doesn’t work and brt that closes on weekends
Quite a few of the VIA HEP-2 Budd coaches used on the Corridor are former Amtrak coaches. VIA did a hell of a job rebuilding what Amtrak simply gave up on. On one of my road trips visiting friends in Ontario, I stopped in Glencoe to get some VIA video. Something must have been wrong with the switch at the west end of the siding there, because the WB train came, made the station stop, then pulled into the siding and stopped just in the clear. The EB train came through, made its stop, then went on its way. Then the WB train reversed out of the siding partially back into the station to clear the signal, then continued west on the main. *growls* I. Hate. Assigned. Seats. Funny story. On my last VIA trip in 2017 (Ottawa-Montreal and return), I noted that I was assigned the same seat in Car #4 in both directions. I had taken the first train of the day out of Ottawa, and scheduled myself on the last train of the day out of Montreal. Irony #1: that last train of the day out of Montreal was the same set of equipment on it's return leg from Quebec City. So here I am, in the same coach, same seat. Irony #2: My seatmate was already in the aisle seat when I got on board, and it was the same lady that was seated next to me on the trip out that morning! Now what are the odds of that???? Oh yeah, and the ham croissant would have been better!
Take the Canadian to the unincorporated town of Elsas. It has no Walkscore (not a walkscore of zero, a walkscore of null) and we're not sure if the settlement even exists because the census doesn't show it.
The extra luggage space is usually filled up with hockey bags. A lot of students take Via and bring their giant hockey equipment bags to uni with them.
And yes, the river there really is called that! Long story short, some guy named it London and the Thames river because they wanted that to be capital of Upper Canada, it got rejected, and then his second suggestion of Toronto became the capital of Upper Canada and later capital of Ontario.
9:15 97 mph was probably GPS error. If you had newer coaches and a P42 or Charger locomotive you could have gotten up to the 100 mph (161 km/h) speed limit, but those Budd coaches are limited to only 95 mph (and so are the F40PH locomotives). 12:34 The most frequent City pair on Via is Kingston to Toronto which is 14 to 16 trains per day in each direction starting later this month. The daily frequency from Toronto to Ottawa is also increasing to 9 or 10 on busy days, though still only 8 on quieter days like Wednesday. Overall in terms of frequency the QC-W Corridor is far behind the Northeast Corridor, but ahead of most of the state supported routes. In terms of average speed, the express trains in the Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal triangle come third behind NYC-Washington NEC and Brightline, with average speeds around 65 mph (105 km/h), which is faster than the Boston-NYC Acela.
It's a city pair which exists. It's a matter of taste whether or not to count it. I think it's comparable to New Haven-NYC, while Ottawa-TO and MTL-TO would be more like Boston-NYC
11:21 Okay that little desk area (that's also CLEAN) is a really really nice touch! Why are there as many amenities as in South Station? South Station deserves better!
I railfanned Windsor in the late Winter of 1983 with a friend, and the two things that stand out in my memory of that area is that we were shooting MLW LRCs and FPA-4s, and the entire area stank from the whiskey distillery next to the station. Does that industry still operate there?
Maybe you can do a trip report on the Canadian Between Toronto to Vancouver. (If you can...…) but if you have the chance to ride the longest long distance train trip in North America.
@@MilesinTransit Not sure if it's in your radar but there's currently a 40% sale on the toronto-vancouver if you get the sleeper berths (cabins are 25% off) so pretty good time to book it for the off-season
There's a reason that there's a sudden line between suburbs and country here, Ontario has unusually strict zoning laws and greenbelts (when Doug Ford isn't screwing with them at least). Also almost psychotic flood control thanks to the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel
To clarify, zoning bylaws don't really direct development, since they're easily changed. Most developments include updates to zoning bylaws anyway. The reason Ontario has a hard contryside line is that provincial law forbids residential development outside of designated urban or urban growth areas, and each region is required to update its official plan every few years to reevaluate growth requirements. Zoning is then required to conform to the official plan, so unless the Minister of Housing issues a direct order, it is not possible to change the zoning to permit residential development in a rural area.
Considering the menu shot as someone with Celiac's (severe Gluten allergy) VIA is much better with their gluten friendly menu (which is still not adequate if you have Celiac's) but Amtrak offers only a disclaimer that no meals claim to be gluten free so...
the reason via rail is so good at communication is cause they have to do it all the time. not owning their own rails and having to give the right of way to freight trains makes sure they know how to give a delay announcement. also seeing you abbreviate Toronto and Ottawa like that made me yell. sir it is TOR and OTT (you get a pass,, but just this once!!)
They do own the tracks from Chatham to Windsor, from Brockville to Ottawa and from Ottawa to Coteau (near Montreal). Coincidentally* those are the fastest sections of track in the country. * not at all coincidentally
I have become hooked on your vlogs, especially the ones where a group of you travel different transport from A to B. This vlog was interesting. I had to keep realising you were in Canada. London and Windsor are places here in the UK. Then the train announcement mentioned Chatham and you, "we're coming in to Chatham!". I was born in Chatham (Kent, England). I have just retired from the railway here in the UK and plan on travelling in Canada, so I will be looking through your vlogs for inspiration. Great stuff, not too keen on the dittys like "Menu Shot", but aside for those your vlogs are very interesting, excellent.
@@MilesinTransit LOL, maybe its me age. I am 60 and just retired from the railways in the UK after 40 years. But none the less, excellent vlogs, keep 'em coming.
I'm pretty sure the seats on this train are the exact same as whats on the unrefurbished ICE High speed trains in Germany. Some of the trains, especially the ICE 3's are being renovated and receiving newer seats. Also makes me curious if there might be an apparent trip report or a few from the trip you took to Denmark earlier this year. I'd be very curious to see that when you get around to videos from then, considering I'm a local (Heck my current job is as a pollster onboard DSB's trains, I've already been on several Intercity trains to Esbjerg, and one of the 4 per day IC3 trains to Struer, I get to go far and wide).
Thanks for doing this and comparing these passenger rail cousins that face so many similar challenges. VIA really has done some amazing things with the streamliner era Budd equipment and those seats do look great. Wow Budd just built stuff to last!! Hopefully they can bring back through CHI-TOR service.
When you have passengers on platform when train is arriving, and you can open yourself, or by stuff all doors, getting off/on is faster! Like in Europe.
Ah, the great flat southwest of Ontario. I grew up there; my dentist for decades was in Glencoe, and it's the town in which I saw E.T. (back when Glencoe had a movie theatre). Good corn-farming soil down there, too. Nice and sandy.
The ride up to Quebec City is interesting if you ever head up that way. The train has to go to Saint-Foy, but then reverse and loop up and over the top of the city because the tracks that went into the city along the river bank were ripped out I think to build a highway. But Saint-Foy is the connection to the bridge over the St. Lawrence. The Ocean to/from Halifax goes over the bridge to Saint-Foy for “Quebec City” passengers, then does an insanely long reverse maneuver back over the bridge to continue going to Halifax or Montreal. (This diversion on a train replaced the “Quebec City” station in Charny on the south side of the river, so I guess it’s better for passengers to at least be closer to the city and on the correct side of the river.)
@@Hal10034 The Atlantic, even made some stops in Maine. Looks like they had to abandon that route in 1994 after someone else bought the tracks in Maine and parliament wouldn’t change the rules to allow VIA to run on tracks not owned by Canadian National or Canadian Pacific. Many in the part of NB thought it was a political move since the Ocean ran through the area represented by the minister of transport at the time.
Those seats look exactly like the ones Deutsche Bahn used in the 00's and 10's in IC and ICE trains and which you can still find here today though they are being phased out for more controversial models with less recline and depending on who you ask much less comfort. It's a bit difficult to say because of perspective and such but they even look like the wider seats used in german first class but it could also just be the leather since the second class seats have a fabric cover. As for the "european" style of throwing away trash: Never seen it in germany and never have heard of it or seen it in the travel content I watch/read from across europe 🤔
This is correct. Those were ICE3 seats. Sadly the padding of the seats is notoriously bad already on the ICE. Leather on the seats is fine, but the padding was done better on the n-Wagen second class lol or the TGV…
wow I just had to go to ottawa for work and almost convinced myself to try and take this route back to the US, and then bam, Miles covers the exact train and bus combo I was thinking of taking. I kinda wanted to see how the windsor-detroit bus was too but I suppose that's either not very interesting or going to be in a future video (probably the former).
Hey, @MilesinTransit This is gonna be a long one, so I totally understand if you ignore this. TLDR: I first want to put out, I am a huge fan of Miles in Transit. 5PM EST Wednesday is my favorite thing ever. You have inspired some of my planned trips (Greyhound to Boston, Amtrak to Providence--your points run was very great). You are a very influential person within the transit online world. Watching least used Amtrak, great races, "apparently a trip reports", stupid deviationfests or random content is just so iconic w/ you. So now that I have put this out, here is really why I am here. I want to talk Middlesex County person to Middlesex County person. You being from Cambridge, MA a very well transit connected city has made you such an expert on what transit should look like in neighboring cities/close suburbs. I resided outside of Framingham, MA a while back. I'm pretty sure you know what I am talking about. You made a blog post on it in 2017 (where you gave it a 7--I was incredibly disappointed that we didn't fare better but at least we were better than back bay) and have created multiple MWRTA posts. Back to Framingham Station, it is incredibly terrible. For one of the busiest commuter rail stations as well as one served by Amtrak it deserves more. However, it doesn't seem like Framingham is doing anything. Similarly, MWRTA operates minibuses around the MetroWest area. Supposedly. these buses have a schedule, but they seem to show up when they do like SEPTA trains. They also operate microtransit. Me personally, in theory believes in microtransit however it doesn't work in practice. It is too reliable and, in most places, where it is effective it is too costly. I truly believe that microtransit doesn't have a future in Framingham. What could they do to improve this? Take Newton MA. It borders Boston so some villages are covered by the GLD. It also has 3 commuter rail stops. Alongside that, MBTA runs buses into here and so does the MWRTA. Newton has a population of 87k people. Framingham has about 72k people. Framingham has some major "neighborhoods" such as Coburnville, Downtown, City Center, Pheasant Hill, Nobscot and Saxonville. Adding a lightrail-streetcar system to Framingham would be expensive and would take a ton of work. They could operate bigger buses like the LRTA but that could require re-routes and would take up space in the Banana Lot that isn't there. Now if we got rid of the MWRTA that would mean that a lot of other services in smaller cities would be cancelled and that would affect a ton of people. What if we moved the MWRTA hub to Natick Mall (biggest mall in New England--I couldn't find any restaurants w/ combo 1 there at least 2 auntie annes are at this mall). Natick Mall is a preexisting major transfer point. However, this could send some buses onto a deviationfest (not that you wouldn't mind). What about commuter rail? Could Framingham use any commuter rail extensions? Could it be the hub to a new Commuter rail agency? Now if there were more commuter rail lines then definitely station renovations would be necessary. There aren't enough tracks. Preexisting tracks connect onto Fitchburg/Leominster as well as Central Falls RI. I don't see commuter rail service being necessary to these cities. These and other tracks are also owned by CSX so delays will arise just like the MBTA Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail in the 90s. The Framingham and Lowell Railroad used to have a line through Sudbury, Maynard & Westford. This is a line that would prove incredibly practical as many people commute between these cities. However, this track has been demolished so it is not feasible. Yeah, Lowell has much better transit. On another note, I wish MBTA still had commuter rail to Nashua & Manchester as well as Westerly, RI. So, if you made it this far, Miles, please give me your thoughts on what Framingham should do w/ transit? Do you agree w/ me? Do you think the MWRTA is effective? Do you think that Framingham could get Light Rail? I would much oblige your insights.
My only thing about the Amtrak style - I much prefer this American seating style where it's all facing the same way rather than have seats face one another. Now, I like that (especially if you're with friends or family or want to basically do blind date roulette), but it should be for maybe only a few seats. Think like MBTA Commuter Rail, which has 2 table sets. But 4 would be nice. HOWEVER I will give Via this - the seat design looks wayyy better and they actually tell you what the hell is going on. Been on Amtrak to NYC before and we had a 10minute delay, sitting on the train on a siding, and only nearing the end of those 10 minutes did they mention it was due to Acela getting right of way. But also another plus to Amtrak - both toilet stalls are gender neutral with one of them being ADA accessible. AND we got a cafe car (shitty, but better than nothing).
@@johnhawkinson It was either a siding or just the main line track because we were legitimately just stopped for like 10 minutes and then watched the Acela shoot by and pass us, then on our way again.
They've been doing some single tracking in Connecticut, so it may have been because of that! Also we got assigned a table seat because there were three of us, but VIA also has plenty of forward-facing seats like in the US. Having the option is really nice!
@@MilesinTransit Ahhh, that single track may be the problem than. It was truly an odd experience for me. As for the forward facing options, pretty great! I wish Amtrak had the 4 facing seating option. I get the cafe car has it (and can essentially fit 4 to 6 people) but it's not the same as if they turned a few seats around to have coach seats like what you guys had. I usually travel in groups either family or friends on Amtrak. Love it, but it does feel a bit insular when you only get to talk to one, or have to lean over the aisle to talk to another. Or, worse case scenario because it's an odd numbered group, you get shafted by yourself.
@@GeneralLiuofBoston1911on the older trains you could swivel the seats around if you were in a group and wanted to face each other and play cards etc, or leave the seat forward facing. Now they have the seats in pairs so they don’t have to turn the train at the end of the line. Note the trailing loco on the rear for bi-directional running
The old school Budd cars, man. So nice. Dislike the airline-ification again - but hey, at least no airport security for Via. Via's currently replacing their Corridor stock with Siemens Venture stock, so we're fast approaching a future where no matter the intercity train you take in North America, you'll end up with a Venture coach, which leaves me a little sad. There's definitely something to be said for the modernity (and continued support) of the Venture trainsets, and the fact that there's no new parts being made for the old Budd coaches certainly makes maintenance difficult. At the same time though, part of what makes foaming fun is the differences, and pretty soon, the major differences are just going to be livery and upholstery.
also thank you for keeping really nasty and upsetting comments out of your comment sections, and for the trans rights call out at the end. I really respect that, you seem like a kind person.
Thank you so much, and I'm glad my dumb adventures can provide some joy! :) Honestly the nasty comments thing is just pure luck...I consider myself very lucky to have such a good comments section!
Just slightly bummed out the cars didn't have the fake sky painted on the ceiling. I took Via from Toronto to Ottawa with a coworker and we were both excited by the fake clouds on the ceiling. Granted it was also around 6am and we'd both taken the TTC on the earliest train east to transfer to Union Station and then had to sprint to make it to our train on time.
1:55 why would they weigh your baggage on a train. It's not like it's going to notice the extra load. I guess if it's a concern about workers having to move or handle it making sure it's not too heavy, but if you're doing it all yourself who cares?
Take Amtrak, and Brightline, use the polymerization spell card from Yu-Gi-Oh, and you have VIA rail. Excellent customer service ( you may hate it, but you're also a experience traveler. Being visually impaired this kind of service is for me, especially if I'm new to the area.) the food cart, and folding tables on the 4 seater. With very very very small stations and Amtrak levels of speed. Said it before I'll say it again, I'm shocked that Amtrak doesn't have security like Brightline or now to my knowledge VIA rail. Suppose you technically do if you're a sleeper? Since that level of service has escorts to the platform.
@@cooltwittertag how exactly? You're not taking off your shoes like at a airport, you're not going through a metal detector ( unless Miles couldn't show that part) , you're basically just standing in line, I did that and I'm assuming you did too during school lunch. This is just........ orderly.
@@trainandmoreI'm sorry but european trains are arguably as safe and dont need any of this. Its way faster, especially if you had an actually useful service where you had to get a lot of customers on board. Via faIls realistically whenever even just a moderate amount of people want to board by slowing down to crippling speeds. Imagine actual full trains at high frequency. Even in france, where you have to go through ticket gates, they open like 8 of them. People manage to be orderly without needing a babysitter and without this type of theatrical security
@@trainandmorealso whats the deal with "checked baggage" and weighing it?? I've never been on a train where I even had a luggage limit, its a train. None of this helps via in actually being a viable alternative to anything.
@@cooltwittertagdude this is just asking you to stand in a orderly fashion like in middle school, so that staff can scan tickets. Go to Boston south station, where crowds flock to the Amtrak train when it's called. This is nothing, and just wait until a horrible event happens, then we'll ACTUALLY get some security on these things.
"Refurbished by AMF" , means totally rebuilt in the mid 90s by Atelier Montréal Facilité, the CN Rail Service shops in that city. Not related to bowling ball maker American Manufacturing Foundries.
@@MilesinTransit There are definitely riders (or potential riders) out there that would benefit from such a service. With VIA's current equipment it would be impossible, but once the Venture sets are in service, something like that would become really easy. It's worth noting that a bunch of trains do cycle through Toronto Union Station, most notably when talking about London, 65 from Montreal has become 75 at Union for years. Passengers continuing through are generally allowed to remain onboard. 71 is not one of those trains which cycles through, so the announcement in London, in both languages, is even more perplexing.
@@MilesinTransit It's not obvious whatsoever. It looks like a transfer. Only people like us would know. At certain times the trips have been noted in GTFS but not always. In the past you may have gotten the "next trip uses the same vehicle" or "stay onboard" in Google Maps directions but at a glance that doesn't seem to be in the data for today.
I care about seat checks but in the way that I hate them. Trains shouldn't be that much different than a local bus, in that if you have a ticket you can get on, doesn't matter if there are enough seats or not. Of course, if you want to have a seat for a longer journey, get a seat reservation, you may ask someone to get up from your seat, but you should always be able to get on, you just may have to live without a seat. I recently travelled 3 hours across half of Switzerland without a seat, but I had a small folding chair with me so I could sit down in the vestibules as long as nobody has to get through. I don't think the Swiss rail network could function if they required seat reservations for intercity travel, there's just not enough space for everyone on the amount of trains that they have the track capacity for.
I think reserved seats do make sense for longer distance services like Via, because you don't have to show up super early to get seats together. For shorter trips GO is expanding service a lot and they have fixed-price distance-based tickets which let you take any bus or train departure along your route.
For what it's worth, seat checks are also used on a lot of commuter rail systems with unreserved seating just so conductors can remember whose fares they've collected already.
YES MY HOMETOWN IS FINALLY FEATURED ON MILES IN TRANSIT!!! Even if for a brief moment... Personally, I'd compare VIA's Corridor service between Toronto and Windsor to Amtrak's Wolverine between Chicago and Detroit, but I can't do so since I haven't taken VIA as of yet. Either way, VIA's 4 trains a day on the route is better than Amtrak's 3 trains a day on the Wolverine service. Hopefully in the near future Amtrak increases service to 6 trains a day like it intends to, and maybe even establish a through service between Chicago and Toronto via Detroit.
Ah, come on, you made it all the way to Windsor and didn't do the Tunnel Bus to Detroit??? Unless that's another video... 👀🧐😆 BTW as a conductor myself (not Amtrak or VIA) I care very much about seat checks lol. And having ridden on both Amtrak and VIA, I tend to give the edge to VIA for on board service and overall quality of experience. Amtrak wins in frequency and speed on the NEC but that's about it.
I like how VIA's lowest tier of tickets is called ESCAPE
"oh what are you doing riding this?"
"LEAVING"
Reminds me of how Southwest Airlines's cheapest ticket is, like, the "Gotta Get Away" fare
I mean, most of the times I've known of people using that ticket, it has been "I need to get out of my hometown now, and cheaply"
So when the Budd cars were built, they were built for the Canadian Pacific in the 1950s (for long-distance) and for US railroads in the 1940s (for the ones on the Corridor like this train like you looked up), hence why Amtrak inherited the latter for decades until they let VIA have them between 1989 and 2000 and VIA has since run them on the Quebec-Windsor Corridor. They were then rebuilt by AMF Technotransport in Montreal in the mid-1990s to use head end power and thus are often referred to as the "HEP" fleet, like on the safety information at 3:26. In 1995, CN awarded a contract to manage AMF to GEC-Alsthom, and CNR would sell it to them in 1996. GEC-Alsthom would later change its name to the Alstom we know today.
ah, yet another kilometers in transit video!
*kilometres
"Arrive es icky icky oo icky" I'm...glad that Miles is my French teacher 😂. London's current station opened in 1963 (though a station first opened there in 1853) and was rebuilt in 2001. The original Windsor station was built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1884 and closed in 1961 when it was relocated to its current location. The NY Central's train to Toronto and Montreal and Wolverine, as well as Amtrak's Niagara Rainbow train did not use this station. Instead, they used the Windsor Michigan Central Railroad Depot on the line leased from Canada Southern Railway until 1979 when service ceased. The VIA station's 1960s structure was announced to be replaced by a new structure in 2010 and reopened in 2012.
And yes, that's Detroit at 11:53. Specifically the GM Renaissance Center, which wasn't always GM. The idea was first conceived by Henry Ford II, the Ford Motor Company Chairman of the time. In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the Detroit Renaissance to stimulate building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit. Henry Ford II sold the concept of the RenCen to the city. The principal architect was John Portman, the architect behind Atlanta's Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel and Peachtree Center and Los Angeles's Westin Bonaventure Hotel. The first phase opened in 1977, two more towers were added in 1981, and GM wouldn't purchase it until 1996.
It had a purple McDonalds.
Chatham's station building is from 1879 when the station first opened so I agree it's neat! Chatham was named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The settlement was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared by Chatham in England's Kent. Ciabatta is some quality bread for a sandwich! It was first created in 1982 by Arnaldo Cavallari in Veneto's Province of Rovigo because he was concerned about the popularity of baguettes imported from France endangering local bakers, so he came up with an Italian alternative after weeks of trying different variations of Italian bread recipes. It came to the US in 1987 through Orlando Bakery, a Cleveland firm, and three Italian bakers went to Orlando Bakery to develop it for mass production.
Windsor is the oldest continually inhabited European-founded settlement in Canada west of Montreal as a French agricultural settlement was established there in 1749! The French first named it la Petite Côte or Little Coast because the coastline on the Windsor side was shorter than on the Detroit side, and later called it La Côte de Misère or Poverty Coast because of the sandy soils near LaSalle. After the American Revolution, a settlement called Sandwich was established there which was later renamed to Windsor after the famous town in England's Berkshire home to Windsor Castle. Like how Detroit has been a contributor to the US's car industry, Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's. It's also known as the City of Roses.
I find VIA’s seats to be much easier to sleep in than Amtrak’s.
Never thought I’d see a video giving VIA rail so much praise 😂 Love your vlogging style, subscribed!
Thank you so much!
Miles. I challenge you to ride the entire Mississauga transitway start to finish. Kipling terminal to Meadowvale. You are allowed to look at each station as you go along. And you can take a stop at Square One for a lunch break. I know the Mississauga transitway like the back of my hand. I can guide you on this journey.
Yet another great Kilometers In Transit video
I am once again here to watch a miles in transit video at 3am, life is good.
VIA is basically if Amtrak adopted airline-style boarding.
Probably more comfortable than London Paddington to Windsor and Eton Central, or London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside!
Note: the best food on the VIA trains in economy is the banana bread. And it’s cheap.
The business class food / long distance (Canadian/Ocean) food is very high quality.
Yeah I can confirm the food on the Canadian is the best train food I've ever had. It wouldn't win awards in another context but for the limitations they do an incredibly good job and manage to keep up menu diversity despite having to reuse ingredients between days of the trip.
As is the business class food on the commuter runs between Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
The thing about VIA is that their old seats were even more comfortable, even if the old suspension on the unrebuilt Budd cars, and the LRC's were a bit on the bouncy side
Also the sandwich you had is hit or miss, the Ham croissant is a far better option
I'm not surprised to hear that...I feel like seat comfort is on a downward trend!
@@MilesinTransityour correct
Even in England it went form very comfortably (midland and metropolitan railways) to trash (desiro city’s)
Damn right, Trans Rights! Thanks for sharing!
"the same rights" liiiike not being allowed HRT? Or not being allowed in the bathroom of your preferred gender? Or simply the right to EXIST?@@adellis24
trans rights!!
"What to do in an Emergency Shot. What to do in an Emergency Shot. Right now you're looking at the What to do in an Emergency Shot"
Those are Budd coaches built in Philadelphia. Not to far from my house actually. Cars with the yellow strip I think were built for The Super Continental.
They were NOT built for the Super Continental.
Ah yes Canada's amtrak (even tho amtrak goes into Canada but still). Let's hope that the delays aren't as bad as amtrak
I’ve been delayed by over an hour on Via multiple times
Yeah, Amtrak's reliability is better than Via's
@@MilesinTransit I can only hope that this improves in the coming years
@@MilesinTransitAnd we run daily trains on most long-distance routes
You should do a review on one of VIA Rails new trains!! Its so amazing and also very accessible, modern, lots of small features as well!
Are you talking about the new Venture based consists? I would be a bit curious since it's so similar to the Brightline and Amtrak Venture cars if there would be any noticeable difference other than looks. I know about the head pillow which is a nice addition which will appear on the Amtrak Airo consists too but what else is really different?
@@quayzar1 There are only a couple in service yet so they're hard to catch, but there are already some reviews on UA-cam
I mostly ride on The Ocean route, which uses the Renaissance railcars (surplussed from a never-run sleeper car service through the Channel Tunnel in the 90s), which do not enjoy the seats on at all, and they feel a lot older than your HEP car looked. On the bright side, being a long-distance route, you do get the diner and cafe cars; on the downside frequency is 3x per week, so you can't really even call it a transportation option.
Amtrak-wise, I've only been on the Downeaster, which hands-down wins for me on seats and frequency.
The Renaissance coach cars look WEIRD! Why are the seats so high up??
@@MilesinTransit Well I do know the carriages were originally designed for overnight service so my guess is they're so high up so that a suitcase could slide underneath your seat without impeding comfort for your overnight trip. Thats just my guess looking at their weird configuration.
Rode VIA rail from Quebec City to Montreal last wednesday, we had an identical car. It wasn't too bad, first time I rode VIA in 40 years. The station in Quebec City was beautiful (old 1915 CP rail station built to service the Chateau Frontenac CP hotel, it replaced the original 1850 station).
Gotta admit my $39 cheapie seat on VIA was more comfortable than the first class seat on Amtrak last year (Seattle to Portland).
Oh man, Quebec City Station is BREATHTAKING! An underrated pick for one of the most beautiful train stations on the continent.
The Ottawa-Quebec line has pretty much all been upgraded to the new trains by now (with some rare exceptions) and they are so much better than the old ones from this video. More space, more little things like additional usb plugs, much more comfortable (they ARE brand new after all)
It’s always a good day when Miles posts
they aren't ex-British Railways stock .. the Nightstock were vaunted as though British Rail Mk V coaches, yet were actually procured by some international consortium bent on having these then-sleepers ply the Chunnel overnight .. their refurbishments post-delivery took FOREVER and ridiculously appear the clunkiest ever of that once-familiar tiny loading guage of theirs ;)
They weren't acquired from British Railways, but they are British Railways Mark IV coaches.
i care about the seat checks!!! thank you for the info genuinely I just think they're neat
Thank you!!
it’s worth noting that most of VIA’s corridor runs over CN track whereas most of the Northeast Regional route is owned by Amtrak, so delays are much more prevalent on VIA, but Amtrak’s OTP could still be a lot better especially on Virginia trains which use CSX or NS.
Then you get the western Amtrak trains which get heavily delayed by UPRR and BNSF freight. Though the California Zeyphr I think still manages to get priority for the Moffat tunnel and is pretty consistent at emerging from the west portal at Winter Park resort, CO at approximately 10AM. That spot is also Amtraks only non-station stop, when they run the winter ski train service, the Zephyr stops at the West Portal to drop skiers off at Winter Park, though I think they have to go to the Fraser station to catch the eastbound.
That French pronuncation killed me
you HAVE to do a transit challenge in Ottawa... I promise whatever you have seen OC transpo will make GREYHOUND look luxurious and reliable
When I took the corridor between Toronto and Montreal, the train actually did get up to 150 km/h for significant stretches. It is sad that we can't do better than that though and the frequency should be so much higher given the potential ridership. Same issue with scheduling the way freight companies would like it. The HFR idea is a good one even if it's not an entirely new high speed line
The Siemens trains will be able to cruise at 160 km/h between Toronto and Montreal, vs 153 km/h with the current fleet. But the top speed isn't really the issue. The issue is all the slowdowns to switch tracks or delays due to freight or GO traffic
@@OntarioTrafficMan yeah, a big part of the HFR project is just creating dedicated track (at all) because there's no way they could have higher frequency without that
Hey Miles, if you want more Canadian content you should check out the Calgary LRT. It has one of the highest per capita ridership rates of any North American LRT despite being only a small 2 line system. Or OC Transport, a 1 line LRT that doesn’t work and brt that closes on weekends
Yet they can't run a damn intercity train there...
North America is just that bad
I LOVE SEAT CHECKS!!!!!
Quite a few of the VIA HEP-2 Budd coaches used on the Corridor are former Amtrak coaches. VIA did a hell of a job rebuilding what Amtrak simply gave up on.
On one of my road trips visiting friends in Ontario, I stopped in Glencoe to get some VIA video. Something must have been wrong with the switch at the west end of the siding there, because the WB train came, made the station stop, then pulled into the siding and stopped just in the clear. The EB train came through, made its stop, then went on its way. Then the WB train reversed out of the siding partially back into the station to clear the signal, then continued west on the main.
*growls* I. Hate. Assigned. Seats.
Funny story. On my last VIA trip in 2017 (Ottawa-Montreal and return), I noted that I was assigned the same seat in Car #4 in both directions. I had taken the first train of the day out of Ottawa, and scheduled myself on the last train of the day out of Montreal.
Irony #1: that last train of the day out of Montreal was the same set of equipment on it's return leg from Quebec City. So here I am, in the same coach, same seat.
Irony #2: My seatmate was already in the aisle seat when I got on board, and it was the same lady that was seated next to me on the trip out that morning! Now what are the odds of that????
Oh yeah, and the ham croissant would have been better!
That's a hilarious story! I love that both you AND your seatmate made the same round trip in the exact same seats!
@@MilesinTransit What are the odds, right? I should have played the coach numbers on the lottery when I got home.
If you can make London to Windsor entertaining, you've got my subscription. Nice job.
Thanks so much, glad you liked it!
Take the Canadian to the unincorporated town of Elsas. It has no Walkscore (not a walkscore of zero, a walkscore of null) and we're not sure if the settlement even exists because the census doesn't show it.
Least isolated VIA Rail station...
The extra luggage space is usually filled up with hockey bags. A lot of students take Via and bring their giant hockey equipment bags to uni with them.
"The Thames"
I laughed way too hard at that
And yes, the river there really is called that! Long story short, some guy named it London and the Thames river because they wanted that to be capital of Upper Canada, it got rejected, and then his second suggestion of Toronto became the capital of Upper Canada and later capital of Ontario.
CANADIAN DOLLARS 💵 🇨🇦
That sandwich looked POOR compared to Amtrak's cafe car offerings, which makes me sad because I love a refreshments trolley.
Welcome back, [redacted] and [redacted]
I love how all of the place names are from South East England.
It is fake London
9:15 97 mph was probably GPS error. If you had newer coaches and a P42 or Charger locomotive you could have gotten up to the 100 mph (161 km/h) speed limit, but those Budd coaches are limited to only 95 mph (and so are the F40PH locomotives).
12:34 The most frequent City pair on Via is Kingston to Toronto which is 14 to 16 trains per day in each direction starting later this month. The daily frequency from Toronto to Ottawa is also increasing to 9 or 10 on busy days, though still only 8 on quieter days like Wednesday.
Overall in terms of frequency the QC-W Corridor is far behind the Northeast Corridor, but ahead of most of the state supported routes. In terms of average speed, the express trains in the Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal triangle come third behind NYC-Washington NEC and Brightline, with average speeds around 65 mph (105 km/h), which is faster than the Boston-NYC Acela.
Is Kingston a major enough destination to be worth mentioning, or is it more that it just happens to be served by trains to both Montreal and Ottawa?
It's a city pair which exists. It's a matter of taste whether or not to count it. I think it's comparable to New Haven-NYC, while Ottawa-TO and MTL-TO would be more like Boston-NYC
You know Aleena was going to roast you for that pronunciation...it should read "arr-ee-vay ee-cee, ee-cee oo ee-cee."
Wee say sa come on on le dee
I’m not sure when this was made, but you should take a ride on the new Via Rail Siemens Venture cars.
11:21
Okay that little desk area (that's also CLEAN) is a really really nice touch! Why are there as many amenities as in South Station? South Station deserves better!
I railfanned Windsor in the late Winter of 1983 with a friend, and the two things that stand out in my memory of that area is that we were shooting MLW LRCs and FPA-4s, and the entire area stank from the whiskey distillery next to the station. Does that industry still operate there?
I'm not sure! I don't remember a noteworthy smell from our visit.
Yes Hiram Walker & Sons is still there, now owned by Beam Suntory
At the end, that has to be the most beat up looking GE Genesis I've ever seen, you don't usually see Amtrak Genesis locos that beat up.
I wish you could see the state of VIA stations in British Columbia. Look up the 'Mission, BC Via Rail Station'
That one's also weird because it's one-way!
Maybe you can do a trip report on the Canadian Between Toronto to Vancouver. (If you can...…) but if you have the chance to ride the longest long distance train trip in North America.
I would love to someday!
@@MilesinTransit Not sure if it's in your radar but there's currently a 40% sale on the toronto-vancouver if you get the sleeper berths (cabins are 25% off) so pretty good time to book it for the off-season
@@PeevedLatias I've seen, it's more an issue of not getting enough vacation time at work! I might look into doing an Ocean trip with the sale though.
We always love a new miles in transit video.
Those seats are quite similar to what we've got in older generation ICEs here in germany. Did'nt expect that!
There's a reason that there's a sudden line between suburbs and country here, Ontario has unusually strict zoning laws and greenbelts (when Doug Ford isn't screwing with them at least). Also almost psychotic flood control thanks to the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel
To clarify, zoning bylaws don't really direct development, since they're easily changed. Most developments include updates to zoning bylaws anyway. The reason Ontario has a hard contryside line is that provincial law forbids residential development outside of designated urban or urban growth areas, and each region is required to update its official plan every few years to reevaluate growth requirements. Zoning is then required to conform to the official plan, so unless the Minister of Housing issues a direct order, it is not possible to change the zoning to permit residential development in a rural area.
Blured out guy with the black hair seems like a good guy and is in no way weird and passive aggressive.
A lot of us grew up on those trains. :)
Considering the menu shot as someone with Celiac's (severe Gluten allergy) VIA is much better with their gluten friendly menu (which is still not adequate if you have Celiac's)
but Amtrak offers only a disclaimer that no meals claim to be gluten free so...
Amtrak has no gluten free options at all?? That's awful!
the reason via rail is so good at communication is cause they have to do it all the time. not owning their own rails and having to give the right of way to freight trains makes sure they know how to give a delay announcement. also seeing you abbreviate Toronto and Ottawa like that made me yell. sir it is TOR and OTT (you get a pass,, but just this once!!)
They do own the tracks from Chatham to Windsor, from Brockville to Ottawa and from Ottawa to Coteau (near Montreal). Coincidentally* those are the fastest sections of track in the country.
* not at all coincidentally
@@OntarioTrafficMan thanks for clarifying!! I didn't know this!
For what it's worth, I was using the abbreviations on asm.transitdocs.com, but I'm not sure if those are official or not!
It's called "Fake London" - Not Just Bikes, 2023
I have become hooked on your vlogs, especially the ones where a group of you travel different transport from A to B. This vlog was interesting. I had to keep realising you were in Canada. London and Windsor are places here in the UK. Then the train announcement mentioned Chatham and you, "we're coming in to Chatham!". I was born in Chatham (Kent, England). I have just retired from the railway here in the UK and plan on travelling in Canada, so I will be looking through your vlogs for inspiration. Great stuff, not too keen on the dittys like "Menu Shot", but aside for those your vlogs are very interesting, excellent.
Thank you! But I think you're the first person ever who's said they DON'T like the jingles 😛
@@MilesinTransit LOL, maybe its me age. I am 60 and just retired from the railways in the UK after 40 years. But none the less, excellent vlogs, keep 'em coming.
Nice that you have all those Minecraft characters to keep you company on the trip :)
London to Windsor? Why not New London to Windsor Locks? 😉
Uhh...well gosh, I guess so!
My first VIA trip was on the Canadian. Nothing like the dome car!
That's an epic first VIA trip!!
I'm pretty sure the seats on this train are the exact same as whats on the unrefurbished ICE High speed trains in Germany. Some of the trains, especially the ICE 3's are being renovated and receiving newer seats.
Also makes me curious if there might be an apparent trip report or a few from the trip you took to Denmark earlier this year. I'd be very curious to see that when you get around to videos from then, considering I'm a local (Heck my current job is as a pollster onboard DSB's trains, I've already been on several Intercity trains to Esbjerg, and one of the 4 per day IC3 trains to Struer, I get to go far and wide).
I will eventually have to get to those! There are Denmark videos in the backlog!
Whose heckin idea was it for Miles to wear a button-down
I don't actually remember why I brought that...
Thanks for doing this and comparing these passenger rail cousins that face so many similar challenges. VIA really has done some amazing things with the streamliner era Budd equipment and those seats do look great. Wow Budd just built stuff to last!! Hopefully they can bring back through CHI-TOR service.
When you have passengers on platform when train is arriving, and you can open yourself, or by stuff all doors, getting off/on is faster! Like in Europe.
Via is a great service
Ah, the great flat southwest of Ontario. I grew up there; my dentist for decades was in Glencoe, and it's the town in which I saw E.T. (back when Glencoe had a movie theatre).
Good corn-farming soil down there, too. Nice and sandy.
For a true Via Rail experience, you need to take 'The Canadian' from Toronto to Vancouver. It beats absolutely everything that Amtrak has to offer.
The ride up to Quebec City is interesting if you ever head up that way. The train has to go to Saint-Foy, but then reverse and loop up and over the top of the city because the tracks that went into the city along the river bank were ripped out I think to build a highway. But Saint-Foy is the connection to the bridge over the St. Lawrence.
The Ocean to/from Halifax goes over the bridge to Saint-Foy for “Quebec City” passengers, then does an insanely long reverse maneuver back over the bridge to continue going to Halifax or Montreal. (This diversion on a train replaced the “Quebec City” station in Charny on the south side of the river, so I guess it’s better for passengers to at least be closer to the city and on the correct side of the river.)
Didn't VIA used to run between Montreal and Halifax across northern Maine?
@@Hal10034 The Atlantic, even made some stops in Maine.
Looks like they had to abandon that route in 1994 after someone else bought the tracks in Maine and parliament wouldn’t change the rules to allow VIA to run on tracks not owned by Canadian National or Canadian Pacific. Many in the part of NB thought it was a political move since the Ocean ran through the area represented by the minister of transport at the time.
@@joermnyc Thanks for the information
Those seats look exactly like the ones Deutsche Bahn used in the 00's and 10's in IC and ICE trains and which you can still find here today though they are being phased out for more controversial models with less recline and depending on who you ask much less comfort. It's a bit difficult to say because of perspective and such but they even look like the wider seats used in german first class but it could also just be the leather since the second class seats have a fabric cover.
As for the "european" style of throwing away trash: Never seen it in germany and never have heard of it or seen it in the travel content I watch/read from across europe 🤔
I saw it in Denmark! Or at least I think I did...
This is correct. Those were ICE3 seats. Sadly the padding of the seats is notoriously bad already on the ICE. Leather on the seats is fine, but the padding was done better on the n-Wagen second class lol or the TGV…
when i took the train from Toronto to Halifax and back (about 3 years ago?) they had a cafe car. maybe it depends on the route? i dunno
Yeah, the Ocean and the Canadian both have cafe cars!
wow I just had to go to ottawa for work and almost convinced myself to try and take this route back to the US, and then bam, Miles covers the exact train and bus combo I was thinking of taking. I kinda wanted to see how the windsor-detroit bus was too but I suppose that's either not very interesting or going to be in a future video (probably the former).
Stay tuned, it was a very interesting bus!
Hey, @MilesinTransit
This is gonna be a long one, so I totally understand if you ignore this.
TLDR: I first want to put out, I am a huge fan of Miles in Transit. 5PM EST Wednesday is my favorite thing ever. You have inspired some of my planned trips (Greyhound to Boston, Amtrak to Providence--your points run was very great). You are a very influential person within the transit online world. Watching least used Amtrak, great races, "apparently a trip reports", stupid deviationfests or random content is just so iconic w/ you. So now that I have put this out, here is really why I am here.
I want to talk Middlesex County person to Middlesex County person. You being from Cambridge, MA a very well transit connected city has made you such an expert on what transit should look like in neighboring cities/close suburbs. I resided outside of Framingham, MA a while back. I'm pretty sure you know what I am talking about. You made a blog post on it in 2017 (where you gave it a 7--I was incredibly disappointed that we didn't fare better but at least we were better than back bay) and have created multiple MWRTA posts. Back to Framingham Station, it is incredibly terrible. For one of the busiest commuter rail stations as well as one served by Amtrak it deserves more. However, it doesn't seem like Framingham is doing anything. Similarly, MWRTA operates minibuses around the MetroWest area. Supposedly. these buses have a schedule, but they seem to show up when they do like SEPTA trains. They also operate microtransit. Me personally, in theory believes in microtransit however it doesn't work in practice. It is too reliable and, in most places, where it is effective it is too costly. I truly believe that microtransit doesn't have a future in Framingham.
What could they do to improve this? Take Newton MA. It borders Boston so some villages are covered by the GLD. It also has 3 commuter rail stops. Alongside that, MBTA runs buses into here and so does the MWRTA. Newton has a population of 87k people. Framingham has about 72k people. Framingham has some major "neighborhoods" such as Coburnville, Downtown, City Center, Pheasant Hill, Nobscot and Saxonville. Adding a lightrail-streetcar system to Framingham would be expensive and would take a ton of work. They could operate bigger buses like the LRTA but that could require re-routes and would take up space in the Banana Lot that isn't there.
Now if we got rid of the MWRTA that would mean that a lot of other services in smaller cities would be cancelled and that would affect a ton of people. What if we moved the MWRTA hub to Natick Mall (biggest mall in New England--I couldn't find any restaurants w/ combo 1 there at least 2 auntie annes are at this mall). Natick Mall is a preexisting major transfer point. However, this could send some buses onto a deviationfest (not that you wouldn't mind).
What about commuter rail? Could Framingham use any commuter rail extensions? Could it be the hub to a new Commuter rail agency? Now if there were more commuter rail lines then definitely station renovations would be necessary. There aren't enough tracks. Preexisting tracks connect onto Fitchburg/Leominster as well as Central Falls RI. I don't see commuter rail service being necessary to these cities. These and other tracks are also owned by CSX so delays will arise just like the MBTA Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail in the 90s. The Framingham and Lowell Railroad used to have a line through Sudbury, Maynard & Westford. This is a line that would prove incredibly practical as many people commute between these cities. However, this track has been demolished so it is not feasible. Yeah, Lowell has much better transit. On another note, I wish MBTA still had commuter rail to Nashua & Manchester as well as Westerly, RI.
So, if you made it this far, Miles, please give me your thoughts on what Framingham should do w/ transit? Do you agree w/ me? Do you think the MWRTA is effective? Do you think that Framingham could get Light Rail? I would much oblige your insights.
My only thing about the Amtrak style - I much prefer this American seating style where it's all facing the same way rather than have seats face one another.
Now, I like that (especially if you're with friends or family or want to basically do blind date roulette), but it should be for maybe only a few seats.
Think like MBTA Commuter Rail, which has 2 table sets. But 4 would be nice.
HOWEVER I will give Via this - the seat design looks wayyy better and they actually tell you what the hell is going on. Been on Amtrak to NYC before and we had a 10minute delay, sitting on the train on a siding, and only nearing the end of those 10 minutes did they mention it was due to Acela getting right of way.
But also another plus to Amtrak - both toilet stalls are gender neutral with one of them being ADA accessible. AND we got a cafe car (shitty, but better than nothing).
There are sidings on the NEC between Boston and New York? Where?
@@johnhawkinson It was either a siding or just the main line track because we were legitimately just stopped for like 10 minutes and then watched the Acela shoot by and pass us, then on our way again.
They've been doing some single tracking in Connecticut, so it may have been because of that!
Also we got assigned a table seat because there were three of us, but VIA also has plenty of forward-facing seats like in the US. Having the option is really nice!
@@MilesinTransit Ahhh, that single track may be the problem than. It was truly an odd experience for me. As for the forward facing options, pretty great! I wish Amtrak had the 4 facing seating option. I get the cafe car has it (and can essentially fit 4 to 6 people) but it's not the same as if they turned a few seats around to have coach seats like what you guys had.
I usually travel in groups either family or friends on Amtrak. Love it, but it does feel a bit insular when you only get to talk to one, or have to lean over the aisle to talk to another. Or, worse case scenario because it's an odd numbered group, you get shafted by yourself.
@@GeneralLiuofBoston1911on the older trains you could swivel the seats around if you were in a group and wanted to face each other and play cards etc, or leave the seat forward facing. Now they have the seats in pairs so they don’t have to turn the train at the end of the line. Note the trailing loco on the rear for bi-directional running
Those seats could be in an older ICE in Germany or in first class on a railjet in Austria, they look almost identical!
The old school Budd cars, man. So nice. Dislike the airline-ification again - but hey, at least no airport security for Via. Via's currently replacing their Corridor stock with Siemens Venture stock, so we're fast approaching a future where no matter the intercity train you take in North America, you'll end up with a Venture coach, which leaves me a little sad. There's definitely something to be said for the modernity (and continued support) of the Venture trainsets, and the fact that there's no new parts being made for the old Budd coaches certainly makes maintenance difficult. At the same time though, part of what makes foaming fun is the differences, and pretty soon, the major differences are just going to be livery and upholstery.
So we got a MBTA jeopardy game a few years ago, are we getting a video of you, REDACTED & REDACTED playing the board game?
I didn't film much of it!
hey Miles your videos make me happy even when I feel doomed :)
also the genesis pulling those 40's Budd cars is so beautiful to me.
also thank you for keeping really nasty and upsetting comments out of your comment sections, and for the trans rights call out at the end. I really respect that, you seem like a kind person.
Thank you so much, and I'm glad my dumb adventures can provide some joy! :) Honestly the nasty comments thing is just pure luck...I consider myself very lucky to have such a good comments section!
@@MilesinTransit It's a testament to your good vibes!
Tunnel Bus video coming??
🤔
AMF? As in American Machine Foundry, the same company that makes bowling alley equipment?
No, someone else left a comment about how it's a different AMF!
I've never seen a VIA station that doesn't allow anyone to wait on the platform. What a weird place..
And they also retrofitted the old trains with the German ICE3 seats…
Loving the bevy of trip reports lately. Largely for the return of the theme song and menu jingles, but, y'know, also for the transit 😂
really? one of Dorval's pair of inter-city platforms is accessible at at least a couple of points in addition to its station hut
Just slightly bummed out the cars didn't have the fake sky painted on the ceiling. I took Via from Toronto to Ottawa with a coworker and we were both excited by the fake clouds on the ceiling. Granted it was also around 6am and we'd both taken the TTC on the earliest train east to transfer to Union Station and then had to sprint to make it to our train on time.
1:55 why would they weigh your baggage on a train. It's not like it's going to notice the extra load. I guess if it's a concern about workers having to move or handle it making sure it's not too heavy, but if you're doing it all yourself who cares?
Take Amtrak, and Brightline, use the polymerization spell card from Yu-Gi-Oh, and you have VIA rail. Excellent customer service ( you may hate it, but you're also a experience traveler. Being visually impaired this kind of service is for me, especially if I'm new to the area.) the food cart, and folding tables on the 4 seater. With very very very small stations and Amtrak levels of speed. Said it before I'll say it again, I'm shocked that Amtrak doesn't have security like Brightline or now to my knowledge VIA rail. Suppose you technically do if you're a sleeper? Since that level of service has escorts to the platform.
security like this is actual lunatic behaviour
@@cooltwittertag how exactly? You're not taking off your shoes like at a airport, you're not going through a metal detector ( unless Miles couldn't show that part) , you're basically just standing in line, I did that and I'm assuming you did too during school lunch. This is just........ orderly.
@@trainandmoreI'm sorry but european trains are arguably as safe and dont need any of this. Its way faster, especially if you had an actually useful service where you had to get a lot of customers on board. Via faIls realistically whenever even just a moderate amount of people want to board by slowing down to crippling speeds. Imagine actual full trains at high frequency. Even in france, where you have to go through ticket gates, they open like 8 of them. People manage to be orderly without needing a babysitter and without this type of theatrical security
@@trainandmorealso whats the deal with "checked baggage" and weighing it?? I've never been on a train where I even had a luggage limit, its a train. None of this helps via in actually being a viable alternative to anything.
@@cooltwittertagdude this is just asking you to stand in a orderly fashion like in middle school, so that staff can scan tickets. Go to Boston south station, where crowds flock to the Amtrak train when it's called. This is nothing, and just wait until a horrible event happens, then we'll ACTUALLY get some security on these things.
Bros literally the meowiest meowles.
"Refurbished by AMF" , means totally rebuilt in the mid 90s by Atelier Montréal Facilité, the CN Rail Service shops in that city. Not related to bowling ball maker American Manufacturing Foundries.
VIA Rials' "Escape Fare" isn't actually an escape fare. It's just cheaper and fewer points, no real difference.
Interesting that the automated voice in the station said that train 71 originated in Oshawa, which is not the case. Wow.
That was odd to hear looking back...that'd be an interesting cross-Toronto service!
@@MilesinTransit There are definitely riders (or potential riders) out there that would benefit from such a service. With VIA's current equipment it would be impossible, but once the Venture sets are in service, something like that would become really easy. It's worth noting that a bunch of trains do cycle through Toronto Union Station, most notably when talking about London, 65 from Montreal has become 75 at Union for years. Passengers continuing through are generally allowed to remain onboard. 71 is not one of those trains which cycles through, so the announcement in London, in both languages, is even more perplexing.
@@orionviii Interesting - do they make the through trip obvious on the booking website, or does it look like a transfer?
@@MilesinTransit It's not obvious whatsoever. It looks like a transfer. Only people like us would know. At certain times the trips have been noted in GTFS but not always. In the past you may have gotten the "next trip uses the same vehicle" or "stay onboard" in Google Maps directions but at a glance that doesn't seem to be in the data for today.
3:43: They only have decaf? *looks at French* Oh, now I understand.
I care about seat checks but in the way that I hate them. Trains shouldn't be that much different than a local bus, in that if you have a ticket you can get on, doesn't matter if there are enough seats or not. Of course, if you want to have a seat for a longer journey, get a seat reservation, you may ask someone to get up from your seat, but you should always be able to get on, you just may have to live without a seat.
I recently travelled 3 hours across half of Switzerland without a seat, but I had a small folding chair with me so I could sit down in the vestibules as long as nobody has to get through. I don't think the Swiss rail network could function if they required seat reservations for intercity travel, there's just not enough space for everyone on the amount of trains that they have the track capacity for.
I think reserved seats do make sense for longer distance services like Via, because you don't have to show up super early to get seats together. For shorter trips GO is expanding service a lot and they have fixed-price distance-based tickets which let you take any bus or train departure along your route.
For what it's worth, seat checks are also used on a lot of commuter rail systems with unreserved seating just so conductors can remember whose fares they've collected already.
The via HEP fleet has insanely comfy seats.
YES MY HOMETOWN IS FINALLY FEATURED ON MILES IN TRANSIT!!! Even if for a brief moment... Personally, I'd compare VIA's Corridor service between Toronto and Windsor to Amtrak's Wolverine between Chicago and Detroit, but I can't do so since I haven't taken VIA as of yet. Either way, VIA's 4 trains a day on the route is better than Amtrak's 3 trains a day on the Wolverine service. Hopefully in the near future Amtrak increases service to 6 trains a day like it intends to, and maybe even establish a through service between Chicago and Toronto via Detroit.
TIL Amtrak runs MULTIPLE trains a day between Chicago and Detroit. Impressive compared to most routes.
I thought "that game looks like PARKS, but not quite." Figured it was a spin-off!
I've never actually tried the full version!
NO ELEVATOR REPORT on the London Station, boooo!! why blur the faces of your two friends, Miles? Nice video as always!
They wanted redaction!
Fun fact the railroads in Canada uses MPH because if the interchanges with the US.
Interesting, I was wondering about that!
Yeah Canadian railfans tend to be good at mph to km/h conversion because we constantly see foreign units
Ah, come on, you made it all the way to Windsor and didn't do the Tunnel Bus to Detroit??? Unless that's another video... 👀🧐😆
BTW as a conductor myself (not Amtrak or VIA) I care very much about seat checks lol. And having ridden on both Amtrak and VIA, I tend to give the edge to VIA for on board service and overall quality of experience. Amtrak wins in frequency and speed on the NEC but that's about it.
Stay tuned!!
Are you planning a Q&A any time soon?
I really need to!
Why conceal the identity of your travelling companions?
Redacted
@@MilesinTransit Do you mean that youtube does that to your videos?
Brightline looks like they took inspiration from Via in some ways. Probably a good idea I guess.