GlobalistPotato
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2011
- Messages
- 344
Okay, so I did a little math on the Canadian's route, and I found out that the average speed of the train is about 33 mph.
GML wasn't lying...
But why so slow? Long layovers, slow track? It can't be blamed on the Rockies, as the California Zephyr gets 47 mph average and Empire Builder 50 mph average.
By comparison, if the Canadian had those same average speeds, it would have a schedule of 59 and 55 hours, respectively to the other Rocky Mountain trains south of the 49th parallel.
Now, this probably doesn't matter too much, as the Canadian is pretty popular as it is and it doesn't need too much improvement. Other than the idea of it going daily... :lol:
But one complain I've heard from some Canadians, especially those up in Vancouver, is that the Canadian, being more of a "vacation train" than a practical train, is too high for their price range and doesn't have good connections to other trains in Via Rail's system.
The idea I have is to run a more "economical" train between Vancouver and Toronto, a la how "El Capitan" was Santa Fe's economical train in comparison to the luxury "Super Chief".
And on that, like how the "El Capitan" ran with the bi-level cars, this certain train would be most suitable for some sort of bi-level passenger car, probably similar to that of the Superliners used by Amtrak.
Of course, even though it is an economy train, it should still have good customer service, and comfortable seats.
Generally, the train would arrive and leave Vancouver at a time that allows connections with Amtrak Cascades (most likely a extended version of #509 and #500), and...
I have to get off now... >.<
GML wasn't lying...
But why so slow? Long layovers, slow track? It can't be blamed on the Rockies, as the California Zephyr gets 47 mph average and Empire Builder 50 mph average.
By comparison, if the Canadian had those same average speeds, it would have a schedule of 59 and 55 hours, respectively to the other Rocky Mountain trains south of the 49th parallel.
Now, this probably doesn't matter too much, as the Canadian is pretty popular as it is and it doesn't need too much improvement. Other than the idea of it going daily... :lol:
But one complain I've heard from some Canadians, especially those up in Vancouver, is that the Canadian, being more of a "vacation train" than a practical train, is too high for their price range and doesn't have good connections to other trains in Via Rail's system.
The idea I have is to run a more "economical" train between Vancouver and Toronto, a la how "El Capitan" was Santa Fe's economical train in comparison to the luxury "Super Chief".
And on that, like how the "El Capitan" ran with the bi-level cars, this certain train would be most suitable for some sort of bi-level passenger car, probably similar to that of the Superliners used by Amtrak.
Of course, even though it is an economy train, it should still have good customer service, and comfortable seats.
Generally, the train would arrive and leave Vancouver at a time that allows connections with Amtrak Cascades (most likely a extended version of #509 and #500), and...
I have to get off now... >.<