VIA Rail Canada (5)

VIA Rail Canada Offers Students Two Deals

Summary

VIA Rail Canada is attempting to be closer to, “travelers aged 12 to 25” (Guggia, 2014, para. 1). Special offers that VIA Rail Canada provide will help students save money. There are two ways how traveling is becoming be more affordable.

First, the new 20/20 Discount Cards. This card will provide students with a 20% discount on purchases over 20 dollars. The offer to buy these cards will be available until October 31^st.

Second, the Unlimited Semester Pass, which will give for the students the opportunity to travel from Kingston to Windsor or Quebec City and back for 4 months and without any limits.

The Discount Cards and the Passes are, “a big help to students”, according to the author (Guggia, 2014, para. 1). I think, he is implying that students from other cities now have the possibility to visit their families more often during their study terms.

Articles

VIA Rail Canada Offers Students Two Deals by James Ruggia, August 19, 2014. Travel Pulse website.

VIA Rail Canada Extends Discount on 20/20 Card by James Ruggia, September 29, 2014. Travel Pulse website.

My opinion

As an inveterate train traveler and student, I can’t disagree with the author. Using trains or busses from one city to another is always very expensive. It makes visiting families more difficult for students. Also, students are people who usually try to save some money for school, college or university, and try not to spend money unnecessarily. VIA Rail Canada makes the opportunity to visit family, friends and new places more available for students, while saving money, as well. In my opinion, this is great news.

Question

Does your family live far away from you? How often do you visit your family?

Reference

Ruggia, J. (2014). VIA Rail Canada Offers Students Two Deals. Retrieved from http://www.travelpulse.com/news/car-rental-and-rail/via-rail-canada-offers-students-two-deals.html

Ruggia, J. (2014). VIA Rail Canada Extends Discount on 20/20 Card. Retrieved from http://www.travelpulse.com/news/car-rental-and-rail/via-rail-canada-extends-discount-on-2020-card.html

Photo retrieved from http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/lecanadien/le-canadien-cetv-eco-01.jpg

VIA Rail Canada (4)

VIA Rail’s New Accessible Cabin for Two Makes its Inaugural Trip from Vancouver on the Canadian

Summary

VIA Rail Canada is a company whose goal is to provide safety and comfort to all passengers. Gradually, the railway company has been embedding new, comfortable trains for people with disabilities. The train between Toronto and Vancouver, Canadian, has already been reconfigured so that the new train can be attached. Passengers of VIA Rail Canada are now able to order the special cabins by phone, which can be found on the VIA Rail Canada’s web-site. By the way, VIA Rail Canada already provides better access for people with disabilities: special accessible stations, special sleeper cabins and special seats for people with service animals. These new features are already installed on the trains between Montreal and Halifax. 

The author of the article expands on the topic about the new features of VIA Rail Canada with a glimmer of hope for success of innovations for people with disabilities. Any reader will not find negative comments in this article, but only positive things. The author decently responds about previous changes in the railway. The question about accessibility is a main concern of the writer, which is attempting to be solved by VIA Rail Canada.

 

Article

VIA Rail’s New Accessible Cabin for Two Makes its Inaugural Trip from Vancouver on the Canadian, August 19, 2014. VIA Rail Canada website.

My opinion

From my point of view, VIA Rail Canada is doing a great job with providing an opportunity for all people to use its transport. It is great news that people with disabilities are now able to travel around the country with any guardian, or even independently. In the new trains, everyone has enough space to allow rest and feel safe. I’m pretty sure this is not the last innovation for people’s convenience. It’s no doubt that VIA Rail Canada will introduce something new for its passengers quite soon.

Question

Do you usually feel comfortable when traveling by train?

Reference

VIA Rail Canada. (2014). VIA Rail’s New Accessible Cabin for Two Makes its Inaugural Trip from Vancouver on the Canadian. Retrieved from http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/media-room/latest-news/75317/19-august-2014-via-rail%E2%80%99s-new-accessible-cabin-two-makes

Photos retrieved from http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/media-room/latest-news/75317/19-august-2014-via-rail%E2%80%99s-new-accessible-cabin-two-makes

VIA Rail Canada (3)

VIA Rail had to pay competitors $1.7 million to transport stranded passengers last year.

Summary:

The last year was marked by significant losses for VIA Rail Canada which are calculated as 1.7 million dollars. The railway company had to pay money into the competitors’ pockets for transport services.

In 2013, VIA Rail Canada had many reasons for cancelations of the train service which included derailments and train accidents on the railway. Each time, instead of leaving passengers on a railway station while consequences of accidents were investigated, VIA Rail used all available alternative transportation (buses and taxis), and were forced to pay other transport companies in order to transfer all passengers to their destinations.

The author seems to be empathic to VIA Rail Canada. She is concerned that, “the Crown corporation had to pay for alternative transportation” (Loop, 2014, para. 1). Also, the author is surprised that tickets for the so-called “alternative” transportation exceeded the regular costs by 30%. An explanation for this phenomenon could be the inflation.

Article:

VIA Rail had to pay competitors $1.7 million to transport stranded passengers last year by Emma Loop, September 22, 2014. National Post website.

My opinion:

As far as I’m concerned, the free market system which exists in Canada can work miracles. If companies keep the interests of passengers in the first place, they will even pay competitors and have over expenses. In addition, the Canadian transport system is very developed. The means of transportation are very flexible and can interchange each other. In my opinion, this is an important feature of any transport system.

Question:

What the furthest distance have you made by bus?

Reference:

Loop, E. (2014). VIA Rail had to pay competitors $1.7 million to transport stranded passengers last year. Retrived from http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/22/via-rail-had-to-pay-competitors-1-7-million-to-transport-stranded-passengers-last-year/

Photos were retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/22/via-rail-had-to-pay-competitors-1-7-million-to-transport-stranded-passengers-last-year/

VIA Rail Canada (2)

Purely Canadian: VIA Rail's transcontinental journey a ride to remember.

Summary

The author describes an unbelievable journey in which he was traveling from Toronto to Vancouver. VIA Rail Canada gives passengers an opportunity to cross Canada with comfort and in style. The traveling on a Canadian train is “not a train ride – it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience” (Hann, 2014, para. 8).

The author minutely describes meals which passengers are able to try in the special dining cars. Everything including breakfast, lunch and dinner is cooked by two chefs at 100 km/h (I suppose literally and figuratively). All dishes which appear on the menu are the winners of a special “creation challenge” competition that ran on the VIA Rail website. It seems that the author was satisfied with his order.

 

The design of the train reminds me a comfortable hotel, but instead of a TV, there is a Panorama dome with vast windows and a glass ceiling. There is no doubt that the author got a fabulous impression on the VIA Rail train, Canadian.

 

 

 

 

Article:

Purely Canadian: VIA Rail's transcontinental journey a ride to remember by Kevin Hann, June 29, 2014. Toronto SUN website.

My opinion:

As a person who got used to traveling by railway, I was interested by this article. The Canadian train has become my railway dream. I would love to see the whole of Canada without, “leaving my cozy sofa.” I guess, only great expenses will stop me. I’m sure they will. However, people who wish to combine a week journey with crossing Canada ought to book it with VIA Rail Canada.

Question:

What do you need for having a good time on a long term journey?

References:

Hann, K. (2014). Purely Canadian: VIA Rail's transcontinental journey a ride to remember. Retrieved from http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/26/purely-canadian-via-rails-transcontinental-journey-a-ride-to-remember

Photos were retrieved from http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/26/purely-canadian-via-rails-transcontinental-journey-a-ride-to-remember

 

VIA Rail Canada (1)

 

Train accident disrupts Via Rail service

Summary

The railway company, VIA Rail Canada, had to cancel 29 trains on July 10^th, 2014. Around 3,600 passengers were affected by this cancelation. The cause of such an inconvenient delay was caused by an accident of a CN freight train on the route between Toronto and Montreal. The accident happened in Brockville, Ontario, and blocked the roads Toronto to Ottawa and Toronto to Montreal for 2 days. During this disturbance on the railway, VIA Rail Canada engaged the bus facilities instead of trains. The passengers modestly expressed their opinion about the inconvenient delay. They treated this situation with dissatisfaction and outrage. For a compensation, they were given vouchers for future trips with VIA Rail Canada.

The authors of both articles were concerned about the accident. It seemed pretty clear that the authors worried about the passengers, who had to wait for optional transport. Also, the authors of one article mentions the content of the CN train, which included, “2 loaded automobile carriers, 5 carrying carbon powder, 12 unloaded fuel tanks and 6 empty platforms” (Shum and Kelly, 2014, para. 10).

Articles:

Train accident in Brockville disrupts Via Rail service in Montreal by Anne Leclair, July 10, 2014. Global Toronto website.

Cause of CN derailment being investigated, Via Rail says disruptions will continue into Friday by David Shum and Amanda Kelly, July 10, 2014. Global Toronto website.

My opinion

VIA Rail Canada experienced a pretty challenging situation. The railway company was not a participant of the accident, however, it had to pay for the inconvenience of the passengers, including their optional transport. From my point of view, VIA Rail Canada showed great management skills and fast service. Passengers got optional transport during the day of the accident. Even though, people were not satisfied with changes of the schedule and transport, they still got to their destination in time. One question which bothers me is: Was VIA Rail Canada able to make a lawsuit against CN Railway Company? I think, there is no doubt that VIA Rail Canada is innocent in this situation. Even still, VIA Rail Canada incurred losses and should be able to sue CN Company. I guess my next post is going to have to be about further development of this story.

Question

Do you think that VIA Rail Canada should be able to make a lawsuit against CN Railway Company? How much should they demand?

References

Leclair, A. (2014). Train accident in Brockville disrupts Via Rail service in Montreal. Retried from http://globalnews.ca/news/1444340/train-accident-in-brockville-disrupts-via-rail-service-in-montreal/

Shum, D. and Kelly, A. (2014). Cause of CN derailment being investigated, Via Rail says disruptions will continue into Friday. Retried from http://globalnews.ca/news/1442856/cn-train-derails-in-brockville-ont-via-rail-delays-expected/

Photo retried from http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1171120/thumbs/o-VIA-RAIL-STRIKE-2013-facebook.jpg