Santa takes train into city
Maple Ridge News

St. Nick was among the passengers on West Coast Express Saturday, when it rolled into town.

Seven years ago, West Coast Express has developed a Santa train that runs back and forth from Mission to Vancouver twice in December. Why do they call it the Santa train? Well the appearance of the white-bearded old gentleman might have something to do with the name. But the other reason is that passengers are given an opportunity to be Santa’s helpers.
Anyone bringing a new, unwrapped toy rides the train free. And the toys collected at the three local stations are then given to the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society. The first run was last Saturday, and 183 toys and $271 was collected for the local organization that provides toys and Christmas meals for financially struggling families in this community.

The next festive excursion (the last of this holiday season) runs Saturday, Dec. 14 beginning in Mission at 10 a.m. and leaving Vancouver at 5 p.m. Due to the popularity, organizers encourage passengers to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Supporters of railway explore their options

Alberni Valley Times

A means of transport of the past may become a means of transport for the future if a group of Vancouver Island municipalities, regional districts and First Nations has its way. Representatives from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, City of Port Alberni and local First Nations are scheduled to meet with Tanner Elton of the Vancouver Island Rail Development Initiative today in a closed-door meeting. The groups are just a sampling of those governing bodies who have joined with VIRDI to have railway service return to Vancouver Island. Mayor Ken McRae said the meeting is being held to gauge the possibilities of re-establishing rail service on the island. Elton has been in several meetings with other municipal and First Nation governments and RailAmerica and CPR to discuss re-opening the lines on Vancouver Island. Several governing bodies have joined together in an attempt to purchase all CPR property on the island, and VIRDI is also working to establish lease agreements with RailAmerica for the use of freight and passenger services. Private investors have also been involved with VIRDI to help rail service redevelopment gather steam.

While deals are close with CPR and RailAmerica on Vancouver Island's north-south line, there's still work to be done to establish a deal on the Parksville-Port Alberni line. That line would include the line that runs from Port Alberni to McLean Mill National Historic Site, for which the city only had a one-year lease agreement for use. "We've more or less reached an agreement on the north-south line with CP and RailAmerica," Elton said. "What we haven't got is an agreement on the Alberni lines." Elton said that RailAmerica won't likely be willing to sell the lines because they would have to sell them at a considerable loss. Instead, he said, VIRDI is attempting to negotiate use agreements that bring the infrastructure under municipal control.

Friday, December 6, 2003

The Canadian Tourism Commission and the Railway Association of Canada are pleased to announce the launch of www.canadabyrail.ca.

Canada by Rail launched its one-stop resource to promote all rail-related tourist venues across Canada. Jointly funded by the Canadian Tourism Commission and the Railway Association of Canada (RAC), this initiative brings together for the first time railway tours, historic societies and sites with rail-related restaurants, excursions, and museums, etc. to promote rail tourism both domestically and internationally.

To date, this resource offers information and links, by province and interest to 90 museums, 31 rail excursions, 11 historical societies, nine other (B & B, restaurants, hotels), and 14 RAC members offering tourist services.

All responses have been extremely positive calling the initiative "an excellent way to promote rail and we wish to be part of it."

The next tranche of partnering will be with tour agents. Items being considered for next year include further research and initiatives, a semi-annual newsletter, hosting a regional meeting for members, and attending a national product club meeting.

December 2002 Canada By Rail made a presentation to over 100 tour and tourist representatives at the annual CTC Product Club Conference, as well as participate actively in exploring marketing possibilities for the future.

As the Manager of Canada by Rail says: "We have been thrilled with the response. Canada has so many varied and interesting rail-related tourist venues to bring to the attention of travellers, both within Canada and those travelling to Canada from other countries. The current resurgence of rail across the nation highlights this safe and environmentally friendly method of travelling and rail's importance to the history, economy, and fiber of the Canadian experience. We invite you all to join us in this exploration and to see Canada by Rail!"

Author: Peg Herbert margareth@railcan.ca

Monday, December 02, 2002

Tourism hitting the fast track

The Daily News
princerupert

A three day conference on coastal tourism is scheduled for later this week, signaling the growing importance of the sector, now said to be worth billions of dollars to B.C.'s economy ? with a chunk of it coming to the northwest. Among others eyeing a potential tourism boom in our area is Via Rail which has just bought three observation dome cars they describe as "absolutely fabulous" for use on the Skeena route between Jasper and Prince Rupert. Via spokesman Joe Volk told The Daily News from Vancouver today the company is also looking at increasing the frequency of the scenic day-trip. Cost of the dome cars has not been disclosed but they were purchased from BC Rail which is believed to have turned down an earlier offer of more than half-a-million dollars. Volk said mechanical work is scheduled to make the dome cars compatible with the rest of the train but they will be ready for the upcoming tourist season. Two of the dome cars are 78-seaters, and one is a 66-seater. That compares with the only dome car currently on the train, which has 24 seats. It's a full-service tourist trip with a bright future, Volk said. "The numbers and volumes have been growing steadily. It's a beautiful trip and we have worked closely with the North West Tourism Association to market it internationally. We are definitely looking at increasing the frequency." The Skeena route is now a tri-weekly service leaving Rupert on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Via Rail introduced the tourism class run about five years ago. Meanwhile. a spokesman at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Coastal Studies which is organizing the conference this week, said tourism is the lifeblood of many coastal communities, "yet communities, governments and industries rarely consult members of the tourism industry about the course this sector should chart. Nor is there much discussion of how the industry's lack of a clear direction, coupled with jurisdictional complexities is intensifying existing coastal management problems." SFU says it is sponsoring the Vancouver conference ? called Policy Directions for Coastal Tourism ? Dec. 5-7 to provide neutral ground for diverse groups. Canadian and international experts from universities, government, First Nations, industry and non-government organizations will try to produce policy recommendations to fit the increasing reliance of coastal communities on tourism. The SFU spokesperson said a key point will be the creation of a supportive regulatory environment. "Other discussion points will be the need for sustainable tourism industry practices that respect the fragility of coastal environments, and the need for tourism groups and coastal communities to partner to achieve their goals." Among the speakers: Stephen Owen, federal Minister of Western Economic Diversification, Stan Hagen, B.C. Minister of Sustainable Resources Management, Tsimshian Chief Leonard George, and Geoff Holland, special advisor to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

© Copyright 2002 Prince Rupert

Monday, December 2, 2002

Take the train, eh?

Travel jazz
William Thorsell

The one-day business trip to Montreal from Toronto starts with a call to the limousine service to arrange a car to the airport in the morning. "What time is your flight, sir?" says the wonderful woman on the telephone, who knows you well from too many such conversations. "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane at 8 a.m.," we joke, referring to the alleged time of departure. "We'll be at your house at 6:15," she says with lugubrious finality. We have been through this before. To be ready by 6:15, we set the alarm for 5:15, knowing that 10 minutes will be lost in denial, 15 minutes by grabbing instant coffee, 10 minutes by standing bovine in the shower, 10 by shaving and applying deodorant twice, eight minutes throwing on a regulation suit, four minutes to arrange a briefcase, and three minutes to find the front door in the early morning gloom. The trip to Pearson airport is a video game of darts and dashes, evasions and shortcuts, to avoid the inevitable "troubles" on the freeway that make things "busy," in the euphemism of the radio reporter. Today, another tractor-trailer has tipped over on a strategic ramp, dumping gravel across the road. Getting to the airport can take 30 minutes, or 75 minutes, on the roulette of Toronto's freeways. The only thing worse than getting there just in time is getting there far too early: You could have slept another half hour. Once at the airport, you line up, shut up, put up and give up, hoping that the thing leaves on time. Arriving in Montreal, you get into one of those odd, 1986 Peugeots they call taxis, crunch into the back seat and crawl through the morning rush hour toward your goal. At 10 a.m., you schlep into the meeting five hours tired, manhandled, searched and ogled. By 4 p.m., you know it will all begin again in reverse -- another high-flying business day of travel from hell. David Collenette knows all about the pleasures of trains. You stroll through a busy city-centre station onto the solid, comfortable train, settling into a capacious seat, opening the paper and requesting a caffe latte as the north shore of Lake Ontario rolls by. Five hours later, after a bit of paperwork, an hour daydreaming and a tiny nap, you stride off the train into the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and walk over to your meeting, composed. By 4 p.m., you are yukking it up at an elegant bar in Place Ville Marie before boarding the evening special to Toronto, with a decent meal and a good book. By 9, you are strolling onto Front Street to grab a cab for the short hop to home. Trains beat planes for travel in every way except speed over long distances. Between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, trains are very close to matching planes in speed -- and the difference could be resolved by relatively minor upgrades in tracks and equipment on the rails. And then we could get our dignity back as travellers, rescued by these wonderfully humane conveyances called trains. The simple arithmetic of train travel suggests that passenger trains should be eliminated because they require "subsidies" to stay on the tracks. But simple arithmetic is too simple by half. The expensive externalities of road and air traffic are nowhere near reflected in the price of using roads and airports. True-cost accounting of passenger train travel in and among highly urbanized areas would give trains a far better reputation than they currently enjoy. Paul Bedford, Toronto's chief city planner, observes with impeccable logic that Toronto will not see more major freeways in its future. There is neither space nor political will to build them. Beyond expensive subways, then, commuter trains to satellite towns offer the only sensible answer to explosive congestion -- trains that operate with high capacity at extended hours. The cheapest -- perhaps only -- way to effectively add freeway capacity in the Toronto megalopolis is to expand the network and intensity of commuter trains. Mr. Collenette is the federal minister for Toronto and speaks passionately about the power of trains to bring sense to our community life. Doing so, he runs up against the simple arithmeticians who can't see the externalities for the "subsidies" or the subsidies for the roads and air systems. At some point, we have to get beyond the line-by-line computations and text-book lessons and look at the world as it is, clogged in a canyon of roads and airports. Salvation is the virile train. Having learned to count, we need to learn to take account -- and count again.
William Thorsell is director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum.

-Back to top-

Sunday, October 27, 2002

Glorious train travel still alive and well

John Gilchrist
For The Calgary Herald
Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald
Pierre Meloche, senior hospitality attendant, on the Mount Stephen

By the time I had lunch on the great CPR rail car, Mount Stephen, the cigar smoke had cleared but the tobacco scent still lingered. It had been almost 60 years since Sir Winston Churchill had stubbed his stogy in a crystal ashtray but it seemed to me that the burnished mahogany walls still held a hint of the great Brit's favourite Cuban cigar. When I had lunch on the Mount Stephen, I was offered the same seat Bill Gates had sat in during a trip through the Rockies. The chair didn't make me any smarter or richer (and hopefully not any nerdier), but it gave me the same view that one of the world's most influential people had enjoyed. And when I toured the sleeping quarters of the Mount Stephen after lunch I saw a small bouquet of drooping flowers in a room that had accommodated Francis Ford Coppola just days before. Those flowers had travelled across Canada with the Hollywood director and George Lucas and their families and had been left behind when they returned to California. When I had lunch on the Mount Stephen with David Walker and Jean LeSourd of Royal Canadian Pacific, we dined on baked salmon with a creamy risotto and fresh vegetables piqued by a crisp Pouilly-Fuisse. It was the best meal I've ever had on a train. The Mount Stephen is one of Canada's most luxurious rail cars, a historic piece built in 1926 to serve Canadian Pacific's senior executives on their trips across the country and to carry dignitaries such as Churchill duri ng the Quebec Conference. It's still rolling stock for CP Rail but it has been restored and re-launched as part of the Royal Canadian Pacific luxury train tours. Teamed with other historic cars from the CP fleet, the Mount Stephen is rented out to global high-rollers who want to recreate the glory days of rail touring. Rail buffs are constantly searching for train experiences to add to their resumes, from a few days on the Orient Express to a few hours on the Klondike's White Pass & Yukon Railroad. One of the biggest notches on a serious train fan's belt is a six-day ride through the Rockies on CP's historic train. Offered from May through October, these Golden Crowsnest packages come in at an eye-popping $7,100 (plus GST, based on double occupancy.) Eye-popping to mere mortals, but a comparative bargain in the world of luxury trains and pocket change to high-rolling train nuts. Royal Canadian Pacific is already 40 per cent booked for the 2003 season, with a sizable portion of the reservations being made by return customers. The tours have become big business for CP; its fourth year revenues are projected at $5 million. Royal Canadian Pacific presents a high-quality product for the money. In addition to the sumptuous surroundings, the hosted tours have a three-to-one client to staff ratio, an on-train chef to prepare gourmet meals, private railroad sidings for elegant evening events, and some of the prettiest scenery in the world.Our lunch was prepared by the resident staff in a tiny, efficient, and updated kitchen, where the chef can reach almost all of his equipment without moving. The tiny kitchen can churn out some impressive meals, proving again that size doesn't matter.When it's not in use, the Mount Stephen sits suspended above 1st Street S.W. in the Canadian Pacific Railway Pavilion. That's the domed warehouse that extends west from the Palliser Hotel over the railroad tracks. Between assignments, it's primed and polished and loved to death by loyal train workers.And starting this fall, it is being offered on day trips for Calgarians looking for the ultimate Christmas gift or corporate party opportunity. How about a six-hour dinner trip to Banff and back? (It's only $550 per guest, plus GST.) Eight hours will take you up the tracks to Field and back. (That's a mere $750 per person, plus GST.) Sure those are big numbers but on the bright side the maximum allowed on board is only 44 so you can keep the budget down. (Minimum is 20; call Walker or LeSourd at 508-1400.)The trips include a three-course dining experience and all beverages. Plus you can take as much time as you like to go skiing or spa-ing in Banff or Lake Louise before taking the train back to Calgary.When I had lunch on the Mount Stephen we never left the confines of the Pavilion. But it didn't matter. Even seated in dry dock, the atmosphere was rich and tranquil, the scent of Churchill's cigar bringing back an era of train travel that fortunately has not been lost.John Gilchrist reviews restaurants and broadcasts a national food business column for CBC Radio One. He has recently released a Cheap Eats guide to dining in Calgary. He can be reached at escurial@telus.net or 235-7532.

October 25, 2002

Improved, More Convenient Inter-City Train Services in VIA's New Fall Timetable

MONTREAL
Canadian NewsWire

Responding to public demand for more and
improved passenger rail services, VIA Rail Canada has shortened trip times, added service between Montreal and Toronto, adjusted schedules to include stops at a new west-end Ottawa-area station at Fallowfield (Barrhaven), and improved connections between certain train services. The changes are all part of VIA's new fall timetable which takes effect Sunday, October 27. The completion of a two-year, $28-million investment in right-of-way, track and signal improvements between Montreal and Ottawa will allow VIA to trim overall trip times significantly between the two cities. Average one-way trip times, downtown-to-downtown, have been reduced from over two hours to as little as one hour and 35 minutes. Between Ottawa and Dorval, one-way trip times will shrink to as short as 80 minutes. VIA has also added a new train on Sundays between Montreal and Toronto, bringing the total number of Sunday departures to six in each direction. The new service offers travellers greater service and flexibility on one of the most heavily-patronized routes in VIA's network. VIA recently completed a $1.2-million new station in the west-end of Ottawa. All trains between Ottawa and Toronto will stop at the new Fallowfield (Barrhaven) station starting Sunday. The new station makes train travel more convenient and accessible for residents in the south and west ends of Ottawa and neighbouring communities, eliminating the need to drive to or from downtown Ottawa and offering one-way trip rimes to/from Toronto at just over three and a half hours. To improve waiting times and on-time performance, and to provide more convenient connections for travellers changing trains, VIA has also made a number of schedule changes to trains serving Toronto, Kitchener, London, Windsor and Sarnia in Southwestern Ontario. VIA Rail Canada is the national passenger rail service, connecting some 450 communities from coast to coast. Demand for VIA's rapid intercity services in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor has grown dramatically in recent years, as more Canadians turn to train travel as a safe, comfortable, reliable and cost-efficient alternative to congested roads and airports. For information or reservations, customers may call 1-888-VIA-RAIL or visit www.viarail.ca .

NEW SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
MONTREAL-OTTAWA
Average trip reduced from over two hours to 1 3/4 hours. All trains also stop at Dorval. All trains with the exception of train 36 will also stop at Alexandria to entrain or detrain passengers. Trains 33 and 38 will also stop at Casselman to entrain or detrain passengers. Train 39 also stops at Coteau.

Wednesday, October 2, 2002

Rail tours becoming travel icon

Ashley Ford
The Province


Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, the little Vancouver railway that defied the pundits of doom, chalked up its 500,000th passenger yesterday and is looking for new fields to conquer. Peter Armstrong, president, CEO and founder of what is now the largest privately owned passenger rail company in North America, said in an interview the railway, which offers two-day, all daylight rail trips between Vancouver and Jasper, Banff and Calgary, continues to thrive. "In light of the world economy and the tragedy of New York we have had an incredible response to our service and will carry 69,000 to 70,000 passengers this season, only down a little from 74,000 last year, and we are getting very strong indications of strong business for next year." He said he is convinced there is a large appetite for rail travel. "We have proved rail transport has a huge appeal to travellers provided you give them the service that they are seeking. That is why we are convinced we can grow our business and see lots of opportunities in Canada and the U.S." Since starting out in May 1990 with a rundown train purchased from the federal government, Armstrong and his company are fast becoming one of the travel-experience icons for the international rail set.The company now employs 350 during the season and has sales representatives in 18 countries. The train is better known in Piccadilly, London than at Burrard and Georgia. The 500,000th passengers were the Keegan family from Cheshire, England, who Armstrong personally presented with a free Rocky Mountaineer trip.
aford@pacpress.southam.ca

Monday, September 30, 2002

Join Rocky Mountaineer Railtours for an Excursion into a Winter
Wonderland this Holiday Season

Start a New Winter Vacation Tradition Onboard a Luxury Train to the
Canadian Rockies

VANCOUVER,CNW - Families and travellers alike looking for a quick holiday getaway in December will find Rocky Mountaineer Railtours three-night, four-day Winter Excursion package to be the perfect way to begin or end the winter break. Those seeking a similar package but wishing to extend their stay in the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains, will find the five-night, six-day Winter Wonderland package the ideal way to enjoy a host of traditional Canadian winter activities. At the heart of both packages is Rocky Mountaineer's classic rail experience. The train travels past glacier-capped mountains and snow-filled valleys on anunforgettable trip between Vancouver, British Columbia and the world-class ski resort town of Banff, Alberta. Onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, staff and guests alike embrace the holiday spirit with music, a children's entertainer and a special visit from Santa as they travel in warmth and comfort through the sparkling scenery of a Canadian winter. Families are invited to gather by the Christmas tree in the festive atmosphere of the lounge car to enjoy games and the musical entertainment of a jazz band, while Onboard Attendants serve holiday treats and provide lively interpretive commentary about the passing environment and landscape. Says Rocky Mountaineer Railtours Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer James E. Terry, "Winter is a magical time onboard our train in the Canadian Rockies. A train trip is a great way to gather loved ones over
the holidays since it provides families and friends an opportunity to spend quality time together in a relaxed but fun atmosphere. There is truly no better way to enjoy your winter break than in western Canada's 'Land of a Million Christmas Trees'." Rocky Mountaineer's three-night, four-day Winter Excursion package includes two days on the train, one night in Vancouver, B.C., one night in Kamloops, B.C., tickets to the Two River Junction Dinner and Musical Review, one night in Banff, Alberta, all transfers and select meals. Prices start from $759 CDN/$519 US for adults (based on double occupancy) and $329 CDN/$229 US per child. The Winter Wonderland package contains all that the Winter Excursion package offers plus two extra nights in Banff, a full-day motorcoach tour of the Rocky Mountain resort towns of Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta and
a day to explore the areas independently or relax in the hotel. Prices start from $939 CDN/$639 US for adults (based on double occupancy) and $369 CDN/$249 US per child. For travellers looking to customize the tours, extra nights in any of these destinations can be added upon request at an additional cost. While the train trip itself is spectacular, travellers who book the Winter Wonderland package will have the chance to enjoy the exciting optional traditional Canadian winter activities in Banff and Lake Louise. Some of the featured activities include sleigh rides, snowshoeing, dogsledding, heli- tours, snowmobiling, ice walks, downhill skiing and ice fishing. Departure dates for the two-day rail journey are December 19 and 27 eastbound from Vancouver to Banff or Calgary, and December 21 and 29 westbound from Banff or Calgary to Vancouver.

For additional information or to book a Rocky Mountaineer vacation, contact your local travel professional, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours directly at (800) 665-7245, or visit Rocky Mountaineer Railtours' website at
www.WinterRailtours.com or www.rockymountaineer.com.

Rocky Mountaineer Railtours' acclaimed two-day, all daylight rail journey travels between the coastal city of Vancouver, British Columbia and the Rocky Mountain destinations of Jasper, Banff and Calgary, Alberta. During its regular season schedule from mid-April to mid-October there are more than 40 package tours ranging from two to 14 days. Headquartered in Vancouver, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours is the largest private passenger rail company in North America.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

Rail-lovers determined service will survive

Daphne Bramham
Vancouver Sun

SEATTLE -- There's an unusual coalition of train lovers here determined to ensure at least some passenger rail survives along the American West Coast even if Amtrak dies. What is interesting for British Columbians is that some of the strongest proponents of passenger rail on the U.S. West Coast are trying to "internationalize" the rail corridor. They want fast, efficient passenger trains running from Vancouver all the way to Los Angeles and they want the U.S. government to cough up the money for some of the upgrades that would be needed here. Of course, it would still likely mean British Columbians would have to pay some of the substantial costs. But it may be a way for us to solve some of our own transportation problems without paying the full cost. There is a but to all of this and it's a big one. It's difficult to make an economic case for passenger rail. Amtrak has never made a profit in its 31 years. In the past 20 years, the U.S. government has paid annual subsidies ranging from $772 million to $2.2 billion US. Despite that, Amtrak is billions of dollars in debt and has mortgaged virtually all its assets. To survive the rest of this year alone, it needs $1.2 billion US. In fact, rail experts can't point to a single country with passenger trains that doesn't provide some subsidy. But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people who believe passenger trains are a model for the future and not one of the past. There have always been train lovers battling with arguments more romantic than realistic. Environmentalists came on board later, arguing that trains could help reduce carbon emissions and global warming, as did younger, wealthy urbanites tired of gridlock and aware of the public transportation options in places like Asia and Europe. But for the past seven years, a Seattle-based, centre-right think tank has been trying to make the economic case to politicians of all stripes including the various premiers of British Columbia. As Discovery Institute president Bruce Chapman says: "We love passenger trains. We just don't love Amtrak." In fact, Chapman despises Amtrak. He says the way Amtrak has kept its financial statements secret is appalling. Chapman is one of 11 people on the government-appointed Amtrak Reform Council, which figures that, on average, every Amtrak rider gets a 30-cent-a-mile subsidy from taxpayers. By contrast, less than a penny goes to subsidize each American driver or airline passenger. It's also important to note that the 30-cent estimate was made before the committee knew the full extent of Amtrak's dismal debt situation, which has only been revealed in the past three months.

What groups like the Discovery Institute, the right-wing Heritage Institute and many others will be pushing for between now and October, when emergency funding runs out and the fate of Amtrak could be decided, is simple. Privatize Amtrak and pay subsidies to the freight rail companies that own the tracks to improve the track infrastructure, so that new companies rising from Amtrak's ashes could run high-speed trains in the heavily populated corridors. Chapman believes routes like the West Coast's Cascadia train will easily be able to survive if they don't have to subsidize dogs like the Sunset Limited train that runs between Florida and California. The subsidy for each passenger on that route is $347.45 US. The Discovery Institute's Darwinian solution is tempered, however, by its support for U.S. government subsidies to the freight companies that own the tracks to upgrade them to the standard necessary to run high-speed trains like those already in service in Europe and Japan. Chapman draws a parallel with airports and airlines. The government should own the infrastructure or help out with airport authorities and ticket surcharges and the private sector should deliver the service, he says. Imagine what would happen if governments ran airlines, Chapman mused. "Air Canada," I answered. Chapman rested his case. But what's interesting about the Discovery Institute's case for passenger rail is that it is just one piece of a larger economic development for that made-up region called Cascadia that is sometimes defined as including Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California, and sometimes more narrowly defined as B.C. and everything south.

The Discovery Institute wants to "internationalize" the corridor between Everett and Vancouver with a massive investment that would include diverting freight through Sumas and limit the trains going through White Rock to passenger only. The proposal also includes replacing the single, aging railway bridge across the Fraser River and upgrading dozens of grade crossings to make them safer. On the B.C. side alone, the costs would be in the order of $600 million Cdn. In the coming year, proposals to spend buckets of money are going to be voted on in the United States. Federal legislation ordering spending on transportation infrastructure, border defence and national security will be voted on. (It's worth noting that the $205-million Amtrak bailout approved in late July by Congress and the Senate was part of legislation ordering $28.9-billion worth of spending to fight terrorism.) Depending on who's counting, there's going to be somewhere between $4 billion and $75 billion US available for improvements to things like railways, airports, connections to airports and building alternative routes so that a single bomb on a single bridge can't paralyze the national transportation system. To put this in perspective, the U.S. federal government spends $30 billion US a year on interstate highways and arterials. It also gave a $15-billion bailout to airlines in the days following Sept. 11. (The Canadian government paid out $160 million Cdn.) The case that the Discovery Institute is making and has been making for the past seven years is that because of the enormous economic ties between the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, any consideration of the West Coast transportation system has to include B.C. and specifically Vancouver. Bruce Agnew, the institute's transportation expert, says it will argue that U.S. law already allows for American taxpayers' money to be spent on transportation improvements within 500 miles (800 kilometres) of the U.S. border. Most of that money has gone into Mexico. But why not spend some of those billions on improving links to Canada? "We've always argued that as long as a U.S. company runs trains on tracks owned by a U.S. company [Burlington Northern-Santa Fe] taking people to Vancouver, there should be federal money available to it," says Agnew. "But we're not really getting any real attention from the Vancouver business community to help get the money to improve the tracks."

What the Discovery Institute and politicians like Washington Governor Gary Locke have argued is that to free up U.S. money, there should be some money from Canadian governments as well. So far, the B.C. government has agreed it would be great to get some of that big pile of money. But neither it nor Ottawa has been willing to make a contribution. Yet. However, the National Post recently reported that the federal government is considering spending $3 billion over the next four to eight years to build 50 bridges and tunnels in major cities to prevent trains from snarling road traffic, as well as to reduce both border traffic snarls and greenhouse gas emissions from all those cars and spur regional development. Vancouver would certainly be in line for some of that, especially if it is host to the 2010 Winter Olympics. If Vancouver gets the Games, Agnew and others hope there will be money for passenger rail improvements that would speed Americans not only to Vancouver, but to Whistler. The case being made in Ottawa for using passenger rail as a redevelopment tool is exactly what the Discovery Institute has been saying for years. Inter-urban trains can spur more logical, efficient and ecologically friendly urban development.

Downtown stations help revitalize cities bypassed by highways and they bring new life to others. If people can hop on a train in White Rock, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Centralia or Everett and easily get to Vancouver or Seattle for work or pleasure, it makes those towns m ore attractive. It also limits the amount of car usage and the number and size of paved roads. But if Americans are reluctant to bail out Amtrak, it's fair to assume that few would agree to subsidize track improvements in Canada unless Canadians cough up money as well. Even taxpayers in Washington, who would stand to benefit the most. Washington taxpayers are already unique in their support for passenger trains. They've paid out more than $125 million US in the past five years for upgrades that Amtrak couldn't afford (or wouldn't afford out West, so far from Amtrak's East Coast headquarters.) Some of that was for two Italian-built Talgo trains that ring in at $11 million US each for the Amtrak Cascades service that links Vancouver to Seattle, Eugene, Portland and California. The rest was for track improvements to allow the Talgo trains to reach speeds of up to 120 kilometres an hour (still well below the 200 km/h the trains are capable of.) Without state money, the Amtrak Cascades would still be a clunky old train with rundown cars grinding along aging tracks from Eugene, Ore., to Seattle, taking hours longer than buses and cars to get to the same destination. During the first three months this year, ridership grew 14.3 per cent to 131,747 passenger trips. The Amtrak Cascades' success hasn't gone unnoticed. Many in President George W. Bush's administration think the way to "save" Amtrak is to restructure the subsidies and download costs on to states. (So, don't be surprised if Prime Minister Jean Chretien links any $3-billion rail package to matching money from the provinces.) In Washington state, Bush's suggestion makes people like U.S. Senator Patty Murray of Washington furious that her state may get saddled with even more costs, while others like Massachusetts and New York already have a high-speed corridor and trains without those states having ever put up a nickel. But there are others including the Cato Institute (a conservative, free-market proponent) that say there's no economic or environmental imperative for passenger rail. Even if Amtrak's popular high-speed train on the East Coast disappeared, the institute says the volume of passengers could easily be accommodated by airline shuttles using bigger planes, and each lane of the New Jersey Turnpike would only have to accommodate 47 additional cars per hour. Still, there's no real answer to the question of whether passenger rail is worth the cost, since it's almost impossible to do a true cost-benefit analysis because of the stunning lack of public information. Amtrak doesn't make its financial statements public. Nor, for that matter, does Via Rail or even provincially owned BC Rail, which last week announced plans to shut down passenger train service between the Lower Mainland and Interior communities.

We already know that the over-all cost is skewed in both the United States and Canada where hugely uneconomic, transcontinental routes are retained because politicians are loath to have their constituents left without rail service in countries where rail travel has been mythologized as part of the national dream. They're reluctant even though the percentage of citizens who travel by train is in the single digits in both countries and the vast majority of trips subsidized by taxpayers are taken by foreign visitors. We also don't know other basic information, such as how much Amtrak pays to rent track time from the freight companies. Like Via, Amtrak won't disclose that information, although both national monopolies are believed to pay something well below the rate charged private-sector passenger train operators like the American Orient Express or the Rocky Mountaineer.While the U.S. government will make its calculation this fall when it deals with the restructuring of Amtrak, Canadians and British Columbians must make their decisions over the costs and benefits of passenger trains.

dbramham@pacpress.southam.ca

PLANES, TRAINS AND BUSES: HOW THEY COMPARE:

Here's a comparison of the cheapest return fares and one-way travel times to the major cities served by Amtrak Cascades. The comparison is based on an early-morning departure and an evening return.

Vancouver-Seattle:
Amtrak: $46. Travel time: four hours.
Greyhound: $40. Travel times range from three hours, 40 minutes to 12 hours, 35 minutes.
Airfare (Air Canada or Alaska Airlines): $272.71. Travel time: 50 minutes.
Seattle-Portland:
Amtrak: $58. Travel time: three hours, 30 minutes.
Greyhound: $36.50. Travel time to Portland: four hours, 30 minutes. Portland-Seattle: three hours, 15 minutes.
Alaska Airlines: $195. Travel time: 49 minutes.
The fares were obtained using Expedia.com and the fare information on Amtrak's and Greyhound's Web sites for travel within the next 10 days.
The airline travel times do not take into account that all airlines advise passengers to be at the airport at least two hours before any flight -- domestic or international.
Ran with fact box "Planes, Trains and Buses: How They Compare", which has been appended to the end of the story.

© Copyright 2002 Vancouver Sun

-Back to top-

Saturday, August 31, 2002

Overnight on Ocean express
Sleepover rides well with 10-year-old on her first rail journey

PIERRE HOME-DOUGLAS
Freelance
CREDIT: GAZETTE

Ariel relaxes in one of the aluminum, art deco-style cars on her 20-hour train ride to Halifax. Ten-year-old Ariel Home-Douglas gets her first taste of long-distance train travel on a 20-hour overnight trip from Montreal to Halifax. I have had a long love affair with rail travel. I guess it started 40 years ago when I traveled across the country with my mother and older brother - a three-day adventure that still dots my memory with fleeting images of the Rockies, wheat fields under a vaulting Prairie sky, and endless pines trees in northern Ontario. A couple of years ago I got the chance to relive the experience when I took Via Rail's Canadian run from Toronto to Vancouver for a chapter I wrote in The World's Great Railway Journeys. Now I figured it was time to introduce my 10-year-old daughter, Ariel, to long-distance rail travel. Her previous train trips consisted mostly of very occasional 20-minute rides from Dorval to the Molson Centre on the West Island commuter line.We decided on a 20-hour overnight trip from Montreal to Halifax. I chose the route because I figured it was long enough to make it an adventure for a 10-year-old, something the Montreal-to-Toronto run can't really provide. Plus it offered the chance to enjoy that quintessential rail experience: sleeping overnight on a train.

Of course it would have been a lot cheaper to drive. Heck, it would have been cheaper to fly (my eldest daughter recently flew from Charlottetown to Montreal on Tango for $180 one way, taxes included). But this wasn't about finding the cheapest or fastest route. It was the experience of getting there that counted. After all, isn't that what train travel is all about? We boarded the train at Central Station. The Montreal-to-Halifax route, also known as the Ocean, offers a choice of single, double or triple bedrooms. There are also upper and lower berths that line the corridor. Before the trip I had tried to convince Ariel that we should book two of these, especially considering the fact that one of her favourite films, Some Like It Hot, has a hilarious scene with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon that takes place in a berth that is a dead ringer for the ones on the Ocean. Still, she seemed a little nervous about it not being private enough, even with the curtains that could be drawn, creating cozy little alcoves. We could have just paid for two seats, but while that would have worked fine for Ariel - she can doze off even standing up - I've never had much success falling asleep unless I'm lying down. (That includes a 52-hour bus trip from Calgary to Montreal during which I nodded off for a grand total of about 45 minutes.) I booked a double bedroom. The room turned out to be comfortable but rather spartan: there were two chairs, a bathroom and a small sink. The dimension looked something like Groucho Marx's "stateroom" in A Night at the Opera.

"Where are the beds?" Ariel asked. A few minutes later she got her answer when the porter came by, folded down the chairs, then used a key and flicked a couple of latches. Voilà! Two beds lowered from the walls. I watched her eyes light up as he snapped a small ladder in place to give access to the top bunk, which she quickly claimed. I started wondering what would happen if Ariel rolled around during the night and tumbled out of bed. Then the porter clipped a nylon-mesh restraining harness along half of the front edge of the bed and I started feeling a little more secure.She wasn't in bed for more than a couple of minutes before she started worrying about not being able to get to sleep. What's it going to take, I wondered: a bedtime story, a back rub, a song or two? Apparently, none of the above. In a few minutes I heard her snoring away, lulled to sleep by that great narcotic: the rhythmic, clickety-clack of steel wheels on rail.In the morning I opened the shade on the large window at the foot of our beds and spent a few minutes propped up with pillows watching the countryside drift by. I spotted a fisherman casting his line in a small pool near the rail line, tree swallows flitting by a nearby stream, meadows dotted by lupines, and always, always, the ever-changing landscape. That's one of the great appeals of rail travel: the speed is slow enough to have you constantly wondering what lies just around the next bend and yet fast enough to present a continually evolving panorama. I looked up and saw that Ariel was now gazing out of the window, too, and soon she started pointing out anything that caught her eye, from a farmhouse at the top of a hill to a couple of cows under a tree.

We headed to the back of the train for breakfast. The bullet-shaped car has a dozen or so armchairs with a bar nearby. A short flight of stairs leads up to the 24-seat plexiglass-roofed part of the car, where Ariel quickly scampered with her Danish and orange juice and joined a few others who were soaking in the countryside around the Mirimachi River. All of these aluminum, art deco-style cars were introduced in the mid-1950s and drew instant accolades from both railroad aficionados and the general public. Vogue magazine devoted part of an issue back then to the cars' interiors. In the late 1980s, Via Rail invested $200 million in restoring and upgrading 185 of the cars. Steam was replaced by electric heat, a shower was added to each sleeping car, and the other mechanical components, such as the brakes, were given a complete overhaul.The Ocean is one of the most historic train routes in Canada. In fact, a train with that same name has been making the journey from Montreal to Halifax since 1904. The 1,346-kilometre trip follows the south shore of the St. Lawrence from Montreal to Mont-Joli and then turns south, snaking its way to the Atlantic Ocean. By the time we woke up we were already deep in New Brunswick. After breakfast I figured I'd wile away a few hours reading my book downstairs, but after 15 minutes or so, Ariel was already looking kind of bored. "Can we go to the front of the train?" she asked. We meandered through the serpentine corridors that zigzag through 15 cars, close to a fifth of a mile long. On the way we passed another dome car, a group playing cards at a table, a raucous crowd of kids on an overnight school trip, a couple on their honeymoon and a bunch of retirees from the U.S. For a few minutes we stopped and listened to two guys jamming with acoustic guitars. Then back we went to our room for games of cards, with a deck I wisely bought at the bar after breakfast.

And so it went. A little bit of reading, a little bit of looking out the windows at marshes and woodland, bays and inlets; a little bit of wandering around; then buying a drink or two; eating in the dining car; talking to a few people; a bit more reading; and so on. We stopped at a few towns like Moncton, Sackville, and Truro along the way, and by the time we pulled into the station in Halifax in the late afternoon I could see that, although she had had a good time, 20 hours on the train was just about Ariel's limit. No eight-day odysseys with her on the Trans-Siberian Railroad quite yet. Less than a day later, after a whirlwind tour of Halifax in which we managed to see a surprising number of sights, from the Maritime Museum to Pier 21, Canada's version of Ellis Island, we hopped back on the train and did the trip all over again. If You Go

Prices: The train for Halifax leaves Montreal at either 6:45 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on the day of the week. The trip takes roughly 20 hours. The Halifax-to-Montreal train departs at either 12:45 or 1:05 p.m. A double room costs $708.55 for an adult and $531.42 for a child (taxes included). Upper and lower berths are $542.92 (adult) and $480.80 (child). A seat with no sleeping accommodations (7-day advanced purchase) costs $262.26 (adult) and $131.13 (child). For more information, call (514) 989-2626 or visit the Via Rail Web site at www.viarail.ca

© Copyright 2002 Montreal Gazette

Monday, August 26, 2002

ALL ABOARD!
Romance and convenience keep passenger trains on track

JOHN DeMONT
Maclean's
Cover

Link to Maclean's article

Monday, August 26, 2002

Seduced by the Rockies
Riders from around the world love the western train

BRIAN BERGMAN
Maclean's
Cover

Link to Maclean's article

Saturday, August 17, 2002

South Simcoe helps history chug along
Steam locomotives pull historic rail cars north of Toronto

Dave Halliday, Journal Staff Writer
The Edmonton Journal

Steam locomotive on the South Simcoe Scenic Railway waits at the station in Tottenham, Ont. A steam railway in southern Ontario offers train aficionados an opportunity to travel on historic rail vehicles. The South Simcoe Railway runs between this community, an hour's drive north of Toronto, and Beeton, seven kilometres away. The train makes several trips between the two communities on excursion days. Once the train leaves Tottenham, the conductor tells passengers about the history of the rail line and its rolling stock. The locomotive currently in use on the line is 1057, which was built for Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912 by Montreal Locomotive Works. Once there were 500 of these locomotives in branch line service across Canada, but only 12 remain today. The railway's second steam locomotive -- No. 136 -- is currently out of service awaiting extensive rebuilding. This locomotive was built in 1883 in Patterson, N.J., for the CPR and was used in the building of the CPR line across Canada. Refurbishing the locomotive is expected to cost the volunteer-run railway $250,000. A fund-raising campaign, including the sale of $2 buttons, is under way. The three coaches used on the train date from the 1920s and include the last remaining passenger coach from the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo railway. The cars were restored over a 12-year period by the railway's 30 volunteers. The railway has been used as a backdrop for film and television. It appears in the opening credits of the Relic Hunter television show and was used in a movie that will appear on HBO in the United States. That movie is about the black men who worked as porters on U.S. railways. The South Simcoe Railway operates three days a week during July and August -- Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. In June and September, excursions operate mainly on Sundays and the train also runs on selected days in May and October. Excursion fares are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 65 and over and $6.50 for children 15 and under. For more information about the railway, call 905-936-5815 or visit the Web site at www.steam train.com.

dhalliday@thejournal.southam.ca

© Copyright 2002 Edmonton Journal

Saturday, January 19, 2002

Road and rail guides for grounded trips

Jim Fox
Canadian Press

A train rounds a curve near Lake Louise, Alberta. Travellers preferring to keep both feet on the ground can plan their journeys with a number of driving and railway guides.
- Canada Coast to Coast (Reader's Digest) is one of the best guides showing what lies between the Atlantic and the Pacific and even the Arctic oceans. Learn about 2,000 places along the Trans-Canada Highway -- the world's longest stretch of blacktop -- covering 7,800 kilometres from Victoria to St. John's, Nfld. Loaded with pictures, information and maps, it also tells all about the Trans-Canada Yellowhead and the Crowsnest highways in Western Canada, and Highway 401 and AutoRoute 40, linking the populous corridor Windsor-Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City.There are sections on six challenging northern routes -- the Alaska, Klondike, Dempster, John Hart, Mackenzie and Yellowknife highways. More than 100 detailed strip maps point out major roadside attractions and recreational opportunities en route. Cities are included, with walking tours for 14 downtowns. There are articles about places of interest, listings of annual fairs and festivals, and a 16-page atlas and comprehensive index.

- A basic guide, without commentary, is ExitSource (General Publishing), listing services on major interstate highways.It's called a "complete directory of services, businesses and attractions within a quarter mile of every exit on every major interstate from coast to coast in the United States." Also in development is a supplement covering the Trans-Canada Highway.The guide lists gas stations, restaurants, lodging, shopping malls and outlets along with RV (recreational vehicle) services." Easily locate Wal-Mart and Kmart stores, ATMs, pet hospitals, grocery stores, parks and recreation, post offices, optical care, theatres, auto parts, laundromats and a whole lot more," it says.

- In addition to its free-to-members TripTiks (personalized strip maps), TourBooks and maps, the Canadian Automobile Association has several driving guides for sale. These include the North American Road Atlas, covering Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with helpful driving tips and border-crossing information and 275 city maps. It also gives driving times and distances. The CAA Interstate Road Atlas has detailed U.S. interstate highway maps with same-page indexing of cities and towns, and route maps for Canadian provinces and Mexico. There are highlighted exit numbers, a mileage chart and telephone area code and time zone map. The CAA/AAA Ultimate Fan's Guide: Pro Sports Travel tells how to visit every team in the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League Baseball. There are stadium seating diagrams, lodging and restaurant information along with a how-to tailgating party guide and hall of fame visitor guides.

- Several guides give a taste of rail journeys, with lavish photos. Great American Rail Journeys by John Grant (General Publishing) is a companion to the PBS program. It shows coastlines and canyons, majestic mountains and rushing rivers, native villages and big cities along with the trains that pass through them. Listed as the great rail trips are Via Rail's Canadian Rockies, Amtrak's U.S. Coast Starlight, American South and Adirondack (Montreal-New York City), Mexico's Copper Canyon and the Alaska Railroad and Gold Rush Train. A condensation of Grant's book is Eight Great American Rail Journeys by Karen Ivory (General Publishing).

- Combining history and travel is the Heritage of North American Steam Railroads: From the First Days of Steam Power to the Present, by Brian Solomon (Reader's Digest). The book is packed with historic photos and information about the birth of North American rail, as well as preservation efforts to relive the glory days riding the ribbons of steel.

© Copyright 2002 Vancouver Sun