I am currently planning a transcontinental trip from Halifax to Vancouver, and I was wondering if anyone knew where to find on time performance stats for the Ocean. I took the Canadian a number of years ago and remember it being about an hour late.
Good evening,
Great plan !! I've done that X4....most recently 2007, west to East.
OCEAN's punctuality is quite good.
The corridor service between Montreal and Toronto is running with exemplary punctuality.
CANADIAN's time-keeping is a totally different thing....and should not really matter to ~~ 96++% of her passengers mix, who are on this train for its land cruise experience. On a 4 day trip running over 2,300 miles accross as diverse a mix of terrain as you'd ever want to experience, stuff happens.....The way I look at it, the longer it takes, the more time I have to enjoy what is a terrific experience and ambiance.
It has been known to arrive in Vancouver ''early'' ( specially since VIA padded her schedule almost shamefully following CN's handling of her....remember UP ??)...but it also has been known to show up hours late, mostly due to CN's handling and, at times, due to uncontrolleable circumstances ( i-e;; extreme hostile winter conditions in the prairies ( do you smell "Empire Builder"" ?? ). They have spare crew/train set at each end, and she only operates three times a week....so it matteres not if the inbound train is late by 10 hours arriving Toronto from the west; YOUR train likely leaves the following day if not the next, there's a spare set in Mimico yard and crew's protection is built in.
Another thing....CN is NOT AT ALL VIA-friendly....so be prepared to hold your nose if you observe some quircky dispatching along the way, specially in vast stretches of single track in the Prairies...and even thru the Rockies.
Service on board , on VIARAIL, vastly surpasses Amtrak's, IMO; no offence meant to those fierce Amtrak supporters among us. This is especially true on CANADIAN , although OCEAN's onboard service is quite brilliant and , on corridor trains, very professional... a la ACELA.
Good luck in your planning. This will be a great trip.
Are you planning on using a Railpass ?? Also remember: huge difference between low and high season with Via, not only on fares but also on sleepers. If you commence your journey in Halifax, and continue on connecting services ( no stopover) to Vancouver, start it on the last day of low season ( I think May 31st...) and you'll have the low season fare throughout your entire trip to Vancouver.
Cheers
