Service meltdown on VIA train 622; passengers stranded

crescent-zephyr · Sep 6, 2024

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.

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.

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.

MARC Rider · Sep 6, 2024

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.

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%.

jiml · Sep 6, 2024

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%.

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.

crescent-zephyr · Sep 6, 2024

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%.

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.

Old MM · Sep 6, 2024

The longer the trip the more protection should be planned for both on the passenger side and the operator side.

Rambling Robert · Sep 6, 2024

thully said:
Does VIA have an equivalent to the infamous AmStew?

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.

flitcraft · Sep 6, 2024

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.

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...

Anderson · Sep 21, 2024

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...

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...

Rasputin · Oct 3, 2024

Here is a link to the transcript of a meeting on September 19, 2024 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities concerning this incident. I understand that there will be an additional meeting as well:

https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/TRAN/meeting-126/evidence

Amtrak25 · Oct 3, 2024

I was on Trains 622 on July 28th. I really lucked out.

Service meltdown on VIA train 622; passengers stranded

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