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A fair number of rail travel enthusiasts take VIA’s Chaleur from Montreal to Gaspé with a same day return, leaving time for lunch if the train should be on time. A small group outing was planned and, although my wife was at first reluctant to join us, the promise of the luxury of a drawing room was the successful persuasion and our group totalled six.
All was well until we reached Grand-Rivière, just 50 miles from Gaspé. After sitting there for a half hour, I was able to get the information that we were stuck behind a snowplough. That was the end of the trip to Gaspé. The highway to Gaspé was rumoured to be shut, so all passengers were taken by bus back to the previous station. We were told we could not ride the train because it is unsafe to back up a train with passengers on board. This was news to us; I guess it’s our imagination that the Canadian backs up in north-west Toronto and into Edmonton and Vancouver stations and that the Churchill train backs into or out of Thompson. After a short, scenic and quite tolerable bus trip to Chandler, we were allowed to re-board the Chaleur which arrived in due course. Passengers for Gaspé were taken to a hotel - presumably for lunch and not to wait until the spring thaw! We were then informed that the train would not be turned for its return to Montreal. (There is no “Y” at Chandler, but 44 miles south-east at New Carlisle is a “Y” on which the Chaleur is frequently turned when it suits VIA, i.e. when it is running late and they can’t be bothered to allow the train to go to its destination of Gaspé.) Even without passengers aboard, VIA refused to back up the train to New Carlisle and ordered the train to remain in Chandler.
Our next adventure was to be a bus ride to Campbellton where we would board the Ocean on its run from Halifax to Montreal. The Chaleur, when all is well, joins up with the Ocean at Matapédia, but Campbellton has a larger railway station and is mercifully a shorter bus ride. We were promised sandwiches and soft drinks on the bus trip, so we didn’t take full advantage of the free offerings in the Skyline car’s dining room during our three hours of waiting for our bus. We had our own Champagne which was suitably chilled by the pristine Gaspésian snow, so an afternoon reception in our drawing room was enjoyed by all. We were also assured twice, in answer to my enquiries, that sleeping car accommodation would be available for all of us on the Ocean at Campbellton.
There were insufficient snacks put aboard the bus for everyone, so the few sandwiches and tins of pop were hidden in a bag behind the bus driver and most of the passengers couldn’t even see these goodies, let alone enjoy them. Four and a quarter hours (of starvation and dehydration) later we arrived at Campbellton. It was too risky to wander away in search of food as the Ocean was due imminently and we wanted to make sure we got sleeper space without delay. When the train arrived we found out the bad news – no sleeper space was available and we all had to travel coach – or as VIA absurdly calls it: Comfort Class. It was known by the crew that when the Ocean departed Halifax ten hours earlier that the sleepers were sold out. Almost all of the coach seats were quickly taken and our group of six, amongst the last to board, found no seats. The crew asked those coach passengers who had sprawled across two seats to give up the one for which they hadn’t paid. Some of these passengers were rather rough-looking young males whose expressions made it clear they weren’t too pleased to give up their extra seats. The women in our group refused to sit next to these people and left the coaches for the lounge car. Those who have travelled on Renaissance equipment know too well how uncomfortable these lounge seats are.
We were to spend the night in these less-than-comfortable surroundings. The only plus was that our group of six stayed together and although I had quite a pain in the back and neck at least there was plenty of leg-room and I avoided getting horrible cramp as I would in a bus or even the Renaissance coach seats. Upon explaining our lack of promised food and drink on the bus, the Ocean’s crew let us sit in the long-closed dining car and have complimentary snacks from the take-out counter. Arrival in Montreal was only 20 minutes late and we had plenty of time to make our train to Toronto.
I am a keen supporter of VIA Rail services and when the trips go as they should it is a great way to travel. But sometimes VIA’s management is naughty when it comes to their use of buses in non-emergency situations. It seems to me that some people at VIA would be happier to run a bus service than to run trains. The Chaleur is far too frequently short-turned at New Carlisle and the Canadian often suffers the same fate at Capreol when they are late. Although it certainly isn’t VIA’s fault that we didn’t get to see Percé Rock and get to Gaspé, the six of us are furious that VIA couldn’t be bothered to run the train to Montreal and further that we were lied to twice. Not getting our dearly paid for sleeping car rooms was by far the worse outrage. Strongly worded letters have gone to VIA management. I will do a follow-up to this posting.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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While I've had some train trips that were less pleasant than others, I've never felt like I was lied to.........and that's the root of the matter. I recently had that experience with the staff and management at a hotel and.....well....it's the being lied to and realizing that you are being lied to that is the worst.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lite’n up David! As they say **** happens! I’m sure VIA would rather have gotten you to Gaspe on time then back to Montreal again instead of having to terminate a train, make alternative arrangements and have their equipment and schedules thrown into disarray for several days. Are you even sure the wye at New Carlisle was available to turn your train? Perhaps it was also blocked by snow drifts? A short back-up move in a terminal area is much different than backing an occupied train several miles when track conditions might not be the best and then having to meet traffic at level crossings when roads are in poor condition.
I realize you had paid for a sleeper but what was VIA suppose to do at Campbellton if the sleepers were already sold out on a train you weren’t even scheduled to be on? I think I would have just taken a seat in “Comfort Class” (It’s only 10 hrs to Montreal....you have to try the way the rest of us travel sometime!) The Renaissance coaches are quite comfortable and not “absurdly called” as you say! Really, what were “these people” who had to give up an extra seat going to do to you anyway in a crowded coach!
It’s been one awful winter so far, not only in the Gaspe but across most of North America and traveling this time of the year you have to expect problems will happen. I’ve spent a total of nearly 18 hours sitting in airports so far this winter due to flight delays. I’ve also been on an Ocean that was only 30 minutes late through a snow storm.
Posts: 239 | Registered: Feb 2004
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And I sympathize with you for the lack of food on the bus but certainly not “starvation and dehydration” after VIA had made “free offerings” available to you in the dining room of the skyline during the layover and then again provided you with complementary snacks on the Ocean long after the diner had closed.
Posts: 239 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I too have had experiences with Via substituting busses for trains, particularly in the Gaspe. If CN 6060 thinks those awful non-reclining seats in the Ren equipment are comfortable, then I congratulate him for being able to travel in such conditions. But for those used to first-class accommodations and are willing to pay the expensive sur-charges, then Via's behaviour is disgraceful. As for a bus, except for genuine emergencies, there can be no excuse for treating passengers in such a shameful manner. Some railfans seem to forget that publicly-funded passenger railway companies are there to serve the public interest and not run a service to convenience the company and its employees. I don't believe for one moment that the Chaleur could not have been turned to go back to Montreal. As for the lack of sleepers at Campbellton, I am willing to bet that crew members were actually occupying a certain number of bedrooms. In emergency circumstances the sleeping car passengers should have had those bedrooms. I certainly hope David and his group receive substantial compensation for their ruined holiday
Posts: 524 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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quote:Originally posted by CN 6060 Fan: Are you even sure the wye at New Carlisle was available to turn your train? Perhaps it was also blocked by snow drifts? ... I realize you had paid for a sleeper but what was VIA suppose to do at Campbellton if the sleepers were already sold out on a train you weren’t even scheduled to be on? I think I would have just taken a seat in “Comfort Class” (It’s only 10 hrs to Montreal....you have to try the way the rest of us travel sometime!) The Renaissance coaches are quite comfortable and not “absurdly called” as you say! Really, what were “these people” who had to give up an extra seat going to do to you anyway in a crowded coach! ...
VIA's public relations couldn't put a better "spin" on this situation. As someone who was actually there – and I have five others who can refresh my memory should I forget something - I’d like to clarify a few matters. We rode up the line just a few hours before and the "Y" didn't appear to be blocked. There were snowploughs in a siding at the New Carlisle station. In the morning we heard conversations on the scanner between the plough operators and the engineer as we approached the station. The flurries stopped by 11:00 a.m. I further suggest that if the Chaleur had been significantly late (2 hours or more?) on its way to Gaspé, VIA would probably have discontinued it there as they usually do and turned it for Montreal. In retrospect, we wish that had happened. But even if we could not have ridden the Chaleur in reverse from Grand-Rivière or Chandler, we could have been sent by bus to New Carlisle and rejoined the train there.
We would have enjoyed more of the free lunch on offer in the Skyline diner if we had not been assured (three times) that there would be sandwiches and pop for the evening meal on the bus. So we had only soup as there’s no point in over-eating just because it’s free. We didn’t get our snacks on the Ocean until 11:00 p.m. Three of us chose the pre-packaged egg salad sandwiches and not one of us could finish them. Hungry though we were, they were disgusting. The Peak Frean biscuits were good, though.
Regarding Renaissance equipment, I always substantially defend it – particularly to railfans, most of who say it is nothing but junk. The equipment has many fine qualities. I’ve had over 20 overnight trips in sleepers and I quite like them. But those “Comfort” seats! I’ve travelled several times in them between Montreal and Quebec (and they are the same seats in VIA 1 Class) and they’re fine for that. But they are way too cramped for overnight use, compared to the seats in the HEP-1 coaches used on most overnight trains. You cannot stretch your legs out because of the hump in front of you. Because they don’t recline in the traditional way (they recline within the frame of the seat back) a tall person has two choices: sit upright or lose what little leg room you have when the seat slides forward as the back slides down. They are way better than bus seats, though. I would not fear for my life sitting beside some of the ticked-off coach passengers to whom I referred in my earlier posting. But the women in our group – seniors three times the age of those young chaps – didn’t feel comfortable. I chose not to leave my wife.
What is particularly egregious is being lied to about the food and about the availability of sleeping car space. I am not accusing any individual of misleading us, but VIA as an organisation is responsible for this. There were many fine crew members encountered and we know some of them from previous trips on the trains. The best of them have been mentioned in our letters to VIA. By the way, beds were found on the Ocean for the six now-deadheading members of the Chaleur’s crew.
The newspaper le Soleil has a brief article about the situation. http://tinyurl.com/2upmzq It is in French only, but can be translated quickly, although not very well, by some Internet sites. I tried three of them; the best was http://dictionary.reference.com/translate/
VIA has a convoluted way of compensating people for lack of services paid for. Sometimes it’s money back and sometimes it’s credits. They owe us for three items. Firstly, we didn’t get to our destination. It wasn’t in any way VIA’s fault, but no transportation provider will charge you for a trip you couldn’t complete. They offer a credit for being subjected to a bus ride for that portion. Thirdly, they refund first-class supplements when the service is not available. This is far too complicated to ask our favourite ticket agents to figure out, so I am letting management do it.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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David, you probably should not try to take Amtrak anytime in the near future.
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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