Service meltdown on VIA train 622; passengers stranded

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fdaley said:
I've been on the Canadian when it was stuck for hours somewhere in the prairies or northern Ontario in the dead of winter, but when you're on a train that's stocked for a four-day ride through remote areas with a diner and a couple of lounge cars, the crew is prepared to deal with that kind of delay and nobody seems to mind.
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Diner and a couple of lounge cars = sleeping car. I've ridden coach on VIA as well and there is 1/2 a lounge car, the dome, and a small menu of snacks. Bit of a different story. Fortunately, the only multi-hour delay I've personally had on the Canadian I was traveling in a sleeper!
fdaley said:
I am really surprised to see this from VIA, whose personnel in my experience have often shown themselves to be quite resourceful and customer-focused.
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I don't mean to be a broken record, but the VIA Agent in Vancouver refused to print me a ticket and told me "I'm not going to waste my ticket stock, you can show them on your phone" - I've never gotten that type of response from anyone at Amtrak, Delta, United, or American Airlines.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
I don't mean to be a broken record, but the VIA Agent in Vancouver refused to print me a ticket and told me "I'm not going to waste my ticket stock, you can show them on your phone" - I've never gotten that type of response from anyone at Amtrak, Delta, United, or American Airlines.
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Which is why I always print a copy of my boarding pass/e-ticket when I take one of these long trips. What happens if you lose cell service somewhere? Also, I've had Acela BOS-BAL trips where the e-ticket disappears from my app after the train leaves New York. e-tickets are fine, but I don't trust my devices 100%.
 
MARC Rider said:
Which is why I always print a copy of my boarding pass/e-ticket when I take one of these long trips. What happens if you lose cell service somewhere? Also, I've had Acela BOS-BAL trips where the e-ticket disappears from my app after the train leaves New York. e-tickets are fine, but I don't trust my devices 100%.
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Agree completely. It's less about your device than the carrier's IT systems. Paper wins every time, and I apply the same rule to air travel. There is nothing worse than trying to get rebooked at an out-station on rail or air and you don't have access to internet, with the boarding pass having disappeared when the train or flight was supposed to depart.
 
MARC Rider said:
Which is why I always print a copy of my boarding pass/e-ticket when I take one of these long trips. What happens if you lose cell service somewhere? Also, I've had Acela BOS-BAL trips where the e-ticket disappears from my app after the train leaves New York. e-tickets are fine, but I don't trust my devices 100%.
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Exactly - I started printing tickets after an American Airlines glitch within the app, the AA Agent told me it was always a good idea to print a physical ticket from the airport (either from the agent or from the kiosk) and not rely on the app.

On top of that, I was in Canada so I wasn't sure how my cell service would be en route, and I also wanted a VIA ticket to add to my collection.
 
thully said:
Does VIA have an equivalent to the infamous AmStew?
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Yes, a tasty ham and cheese sandwich and a chicken noodle soup. I explained to the Via Tail crew Amtrak’s “dinner pass drew”, this was while in the Halifax Station and they needed a little levity after a bad day.

That was in October 2023 and was a real via rail adventure.

Notification train is 2 hours late to Moncton,?fine spent more time exploring Moncton and had a fabulous chat with ViaRail CSR. We had both visited the Buffalo Central Station only she got a tour inside.

Okay, only two hours late - NOPE!

Try 7. In coach.

Our free meal in coach value wise was the same. as beef stew. Both give a pony bottle of water.

There was a stern voice over the radio “WHERE’S THE CAT” folllowed by a meakish voice”… “I have it”. The cat was directly behind or near me in a carrier. It had missed its stop in Moncton. We lost another 10-15 minutes assuring the cat’s cab ride BACK TO MONCTON

It was after midnight when we arrived and I found access to parking lot CLOSED. The ViaRail crew got to hear my Amtrak donner stew story for much needed levity. They know it’s dinty moore - ha ha.

Then someone volunteered to get me thru construction and to where my car was parked.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
I don't mean to be a broken record, but the VIA Agent in Vancouver refused to print me a ticket and told me "I'm not going to waste my ticket stock, you can show them on your phone" - I've never gotten that type of response from anyone at Amtrak, Delta, United, or American Airlines.
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Well, unfortunately that situation is coming to airlines, too. Alaska no longer prints boarding passes at its kiosks in the airport. It's print at home or use your cellphone. I suspect the others will follow in short order...
 
flitcraft said:
Well, unfortunately that situation is coming to airlines, too. Alaska no longer prints boarding passes at its kiosks in the airport. It's print at home or use your cellphone. I suspect the others will follow in short order...
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I suspect this will eventually wander into a DOT issue. Eventually there's going to be a nasty meltdown with lots of phones dying or a major cell service failure...
 

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