No, wait, we were made to love the way we move

We made a short trip to Toronto last week to visit a friend and Christmas shop. As usual we took the train. And we loved the way.....

...but the speed, not so much.

I was going to go into a whole nerd-a-palooza thing and analyze the bejesus out of our trip's distance, speed profile, average speed, top speed, trip time, delays, and so on, and so on. Forget that. Let's just say the quality of the trip was excellent - again, we loved the way - but our arrival in Toronto was 45 minutes late, and our return was 43 minutes late. Average speed either way, 88 km/h.

Sadly, this is not that out of the ordinary in our experience, even before VIA imposed speed reductions. However, nothing serious caused those delays, just the usual slowing for level crossings, waiting for other freights and passenger trains to pass, and we even stopped for the CPKC Holiday Train (ok, that was a pleasant stop). I eventually went with the flow and used the stoppages to squirt post cataract operation eye drops in my eye instead of trying to do so while the train was in motion, which invariably resulted in me squirting more drops on my face instead of in my eye. Who woulda thought those delays would have medical benefits :-)

And the other thing that's not out of the ordinary in our experience: good onboard service, good food, a friendly crew, and a good environment. And no, I'm not paid by VIA Rail to say that. So far so good in this department.

Look, maybe those VIA Rail commercials I don't like actually work. From my completely anecdotal, unscientific eavesdropping I heard some interesting comments from neighbouring passengers. Outward bound there was a small group of twenty-something women on a business trip, and upon arrival in Toronto one asked another, who apparently was riding the train for the first time in her life, what she thought of the trip. Her reply was an enthusiastic, "It was relaxing." On the return trip a twenty-something businessman told his seat mate this was the first train trip he'd taken since childhood, that he splurged to ride business class and was quite happy he did. Ok, so maybe VIA Rail does know its target market. I hope they can convince lots of young people to take the train using whatever messaging they think will work.

If anyone from VIA is reading this, look, you've got to make the travel time thing reliable, predictable, and so set-your-watch-to-it boring that every passenger takes arrival times for granted. You've got a lot of the other pieces of the puzzle in place, but that big one is one you desperately need to figure out. 

On cataracts, E. L. Moore, VIA Rail, and Gino Vannelli

In an April 20, 1975 letter to Railroad Modeler editor Denis Dunning, E. L. Moore had this to say about his recent cataract surgery:

Right now I'm trying to get used to wearing cataract glasses . . . had one eye castrated, (and at the price, $1250, the expression is apt), and now one to go.

I recently had cataract surgery on one eye. I'm fine. And now one to go.

And speaking of going. Continuing in the vein of retro ad campaigns  for VIA Rail, might I suggest the legendary Gino Vannelli be given the marketing portfolio. It's a passenger rail service after all, and an excellent slogan is built into one of Mr. Vannelli's greatest hits: People Gotta Move. His qualifications include appearing on Soul Train:

In this rare footage Mr. Vannelli explains how he got the Soul Train gig, and got to work with Stevie Wonder:

VIA's Ready?

I saw this VIA Rail ad pop up in my YouTube recommendations yesterday. In some respects it's charming, but in others it's ripe for satire. It comes at a time when VIA is experiencing considerable problems with its new train sets, the ones being promoted in the video. The most chronic being that travel times along the Québec-Windsor corridor are longer because the trains have to reduce speed on the approach to many level crossings in order to trigger the signals. According to VIA's website they say this translates into a 15 to 45 minute delay, although I have experienced longer ones because the problem with triggering crossing signals isn't the only event that can cause delays. Eric Gagnon has written extensively about VIA's woes and his posts are worth reading if you want all the details (see here and here for example; all his VIA related posts can be found here).

Into this troubled scene the federal government recently announced they want to introduce high-speed rail to Canada. Given the state of passenger rail travel in Canada, from VIA on down to numerous city rail systems, combined with the lack of seriousness in the elite classes, I'd be surprised if high-speed rail appeared in my lifetime, if ever. Believe me, I would very much like to see high-speed rail here for many reasons.

And I would very much like to see something like what's shown in this ad by Japan Rail that Galen forwarded to me not long ago.

I've enjoyed that video more times than I care to admit. Even though I don't understand Japanese the message is loud and clear. On the VIA side, this video is typical of its messaging:

People who know us know we take VIA a lot. Most think we're crazy to do so. The ones who are curious don't ask us how VIA is dealing with society's ills, but things like how much do tickets cost, how long does a trip take, have we ever been stuck in a remote area in a broken down train, is the Wi-Fi any good, and so on. Whether young or old the questions seem to be the same.

VIA usually emails me a post-trip survey, and I even recently received a questionnaire about services they should offer in the future (and how much extra I'd pay for them!). The questions always focus on amenities and social problems, never on the things I'm actually asked.

Well, I know all this is marketing and messaging on VIA's part to counteract the not wholly undeserved negative press it's getting. Is it working? I have no idea. 

My preference is for more subtle, positive, forward looking, or even sentimental ads instead of the bonk-you-on-the-head while proselytizing ones we're getting. Something with vision. Only slightly tongue-in-cheek might I suggest something based on either of these Aretha Franklin masterpieces:

Or if you're looking for maybe a more train-like rhythm, I suggest this instrumental by Thom Rotella. You could cut and mix sections from it to create a video called, 'VIA's Ready', but only if you are :-)