# VIA Rail Canada top speeds?



## rms492 (Feb 14, 2011)

Hi, several questions get asked about Amtrak top speeds, what about VIA Rail Top speeds? Do they also have a 79mph in Canada like in US?

Any other parts/corridors above 79?


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## amtrakwolverine (Feb 14, 2011)

rms492 said:


> Hi, several questions get asked about Amtrak top speeds, what about VIA Rail Top speeds? Do they also have a 79mph in Canada like in US?
> 
> Any other parts/corridors above 79?


the corridor trains like Windsor to Toronto etc goes up to 100MPH.


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## jis (Feb 15, 2011)

rms492 said:


> Hi, several questions get asked about Amtrak top speeds, what about VIA Rail Top speeds? Do they also have a 79mph in Canada like in US?


Since the Canadian railroads are not under the jurisdiction of the US FRA, the FRA regulations requiring cab signaling/automatic signal enforcement etc., to travel above 79mph does not apply in Canada. Indeed VIA used to routinely operate at 100mph in dark territory. I don;t know if that area has gotten at least basic block signals yet. But frankly if traffic volumes are low enough so that you can hand over the entire territory to a single train and guarantee that only one train is ever in a section, then there is nothing wrong with allowing whatever speed the track is safe for. Afterall that is how all signaling systems work with auto stop or otherwise.


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## NS VIA Fan (Feb 15, 2011)

VIA’s corridor trains are the fastest.......up to 100mph mostly on CN owned track but also several stretches of VIA owned track. And a section of CP track too between Smiths Falls and Brockville (used by Ottawa trains) I’ve always found it exhilarating to be rolling along this line at 95mph with the F40s horn constantly sounding for the numerous grade-crossings. This was "dark" (non-signaled) track until just recently.

Amtrak’s Acela may have some impressive bursts of speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island......but in the same length of time the Acela takes between Boston and New York: (3 1\2 hours).....VIA #57 a nearly all stops local in the corridor, using 55 year old rebuilt Budd equipment (some of it even xAmtrak Heritage cars) will cover the same distance and VIA fastest train will have gone 50 miles further down the track.

VIA’s long-distance trains are allowed high speed operation in corridor too. The Ocean and Chaleur will be in the 95mph range west of Charny (Quebec City)..... Always fun to watch as we overtake everything over on parallel AutoRoute 20!

I’ve also been on the Canadian on the flat Saskatchewan prairie and clocked with my GPS. .......must be an impressive sight from line-side......25+ cars of perfectly matched Budd Stainless Steel and Domes doing a stady 85MPH!

>>>>>>>>>>>>

As a side note: Canada’s railways still use MPH and Mileposts.....not Kilometres.


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## DET63 (Feb 15, 2011)

Fast Canadian train blowing through a crossing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABcoj1nGJM&feature=player_detailpage



> VIA Train 67 on Montreal-Toronto with a Renn set and locomotive 911 (P42) blasting through Morrisburg, Ontario
> If you look closely at 0:12 you can see a moose jump across the tracks right in front of the train. The funny thing is while waiting for a train, I saw it jump the other way, but I knew it couldn't go anywhere because the 401 is just a short distance north.
> 
> This was recorded on September 22, 2009.


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## bretton88 (Feb 15, 2011)

A lot of the speed limits in Canada are left up to the rr's. I heard that CN restricts the Canadian to 70mph. But maybe that's only in certain sections.


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