Tens of thousands of travellers are scrambling for alternative transportation today after VIA Rail Canada halted all train departures when its engineers officially walked off the job at noon.
Negotiations between VIA and its 340 engineeers hit an impasse early this morning. But VIA started cancelling service in anticipation of a strike earlier this week.
This has personally affected me and my wife as we have purchased train tickets to travel from Toronto to Belleville ON on July 30. The only way to get to Belleville is either by bus, car, or train.
Fortunately, as soon as I heard that there was a possibility of this strike I immediately reserved a rental car at the Toronto airport. I would suspect that others trying to do the same now are not so lucky. ... and I bet the Bus Lines are fully booked too.
Living in Calgary, most people don't think of traveling by train since Via only goes through Edmonton (whose stupid idea was that?) but in other cities/towns in Canada that Via services it is quite a popular and economical mode of transport.
Nope...not yet. As soon as I heard about the possibility of a strike I immediately reserved a rental car in Toronto so I could get the hell out of there.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
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Originally Posted by Boblobla
Stuck in Toronto? That sucks man.
As much as I hate Toronto, there are worse places to be stuck.
A buddy of mine used to work for Greyhound, and has all sorts of free passes that he would never use because his family was in Montreal- waaaaay too far for most people on a bus. I took him up on his offer for a free pass to get to Winnipeg. I got a Westjet seat sale to come back, so I was going to be OK. Then the greyhound strike was looming, and I was calling for info.
I was assured that they would not leave us stranded. I was all set to go ahead, then I gave it some additional thought. I called them back, and once again they assured me we wouldn't be left stranded. I asked them to define "not stranded" and the girl was taken back. I then qualified it by saying "I would consider Maple Creek, Sk to be 'stranded.'"
She then said that Maple Creek was a good size town, so that would be a suitable place to drop us off. I asked how we would get out of there, or if we would be given hotel vouchers or anything- nope. We'd be on our own.
So at least getting stuck in Toronto you would have some options.
VIA was spun off of CN's passenger service, but still run on CN tracks. CN goes through Edmonton, CP runs through Calgary.
I believe the saying for trains going through the mountains is "CN has the grades but CP has the scenery".
Edit: and just to add, EDM was the preferred route for the original trans-Canada railway, but it was feared if they ran it that far north the US would claim the lower prairies, so the line was planned for through Calgary (well, Calgary didn't exist at the time) even before Rogers discovered the pass named after him.
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Last edited by Bobblehead; 07-24-2009 at 02:25 PM.
This has personally affected me and my wife as we have purchased train tickets to travel from Toronto to Belleville ON on July 30. The only way to get to Belleville is either by bus, car, or train.
Fortunately, as soon as I heard that there was a possibility of this strike I immediately reserved a rental car at the Toronto airport. I would suspect that others trying to do the same now are not so lucky. ... and I bet the Bus Lines are fully booked too.
Living in Calgary, most people don't think of traveling by train since Via only goes through Edmonton (whose stupid idea was that?) but in other cities/towns in Canada that Via services it is quite a popular and economical mode of transport.
I don't think you've ever travelled with VIA if you think it's economical. You can fly to any major city in Canada for half the cost it would cost you to have an economy seat (no room) on the train. This isn't even considering the ridiculous cost of food on the train.
The commuters, on the other hand, are in for a world of hurt if this continues on.
Fortunately, as soon as I heard that there was a possibility of this strike I immediately reserved a rental car at the Toronto airport. I would suspect that others trying to do the same now are not so lucky. ... and I bet the Bus Lines are fully booked too.
I don't think you've ever travelled with VIA if you think it's economical. You can fly to any major city in Canada for half the cost it would cost you to have an economy seat (no room) on the train. This isn't even considering the ridiculous cost of food on the train.
The commuters, on the other hand, are in for a world of hurt if this continues on.
Oh yes, I agree in most cases its cheaper to fly than travel by train. However, in a lot of cases, flying is not an option and the train is fairly competitive with other modes of transport.
Going to Sandbanks Provincial Park near Belleville? That beach is great.
I won't have time to visit Sandbanks but I've been there hundreds of times... as well as Outlet Provincial Park (another place with a great beaches and lots of sand dunes).
That was funny. I laughed... and its also my fear. Will my rental car actually be there when I try and pick it up at 12:30 AM at the Toronto International Airport?
Or will they say sorry.... we know you have a reservation but unfortunately we don't have a car for you..... That is when I will probably explode, the cops will be called, and I'll get hauled off to jail.... because without the car my wife and I have no way of getting to Belleville... other than hitch hiking.
If it puts your mind at ease, in the two times I've asked for a car there, they've had a car for me both times ... both at very busy times of year - Christmas and the Canada Day weekend - though I guess this might be even worse.
If it puts your mind at ease, in the two times I've asked for a car there, they've had a car for me both times ... both at very busy times of year - Christmas and the Canada Day weekend - though I guess this might be even worse.
We shall see. I will certainly be approaching the Avis counter with my fingers crossed behind my back.
Via Rail Engineers on strike - Via Rail shut down.
