A new video of the CN Turbo train which ran between Toronto and Montreal in 3hrs and 59minutes.

Excellent Article in Toronto Star by Michael Lewis about Transport Canada failure to implement legislation requiring Positive Train Control on all main VIA Rail corridors. "Via’s high frequency rail link from Toronto to Quebec raises safety concerns"  No Information Yet from VIA Rail about having Positive Train Control Systems

New evidence suggest Canada's first and only high speed train went even faster than previous known in test runs. Amazing TurboTrain photo by John Stewart  What a shock to us at High Speed Rail Canada. We thought we knew everything about the CN Turbo Trains that used to run in Canada from 1968-1982. It is a well known fact that the TurboTrain reached a well documented record speed of 226 km/h in 1976 speed runs. This record will stand even after VIA Rail spends $1 billion on new trains from Siemens. Please see previous blog POST for photo of certificate given to those on the historic run. Recently we were reviewing our TurboTrain Footage on our Youtube page and found this amazing fact. On Part 1 of the three part documentary 1970 film on the Turbotrain by CN, it states at 6:08 into the video that, "These features helped Turbo to achieve speeds of up to 170 mph on test runs" . (273 km/h) The key words in the statement above regarding the speed is " of u...

 The above video is excellent as a local resident asks Metrolinx why we do not have all day two way GO Rail service. The answer shows you just how difficult it is to deal with CN. Question starts at 59:40. The CN Freight Bypass Rail Corridor is key to unlocking two way all day GO Rail service along Canada’s Innovation Super Corridor. It will add additional rail capacity (i.e., tracks) along the Toronto Kitchener/Waterloo Corridor. In 2015 the IBI group released the Missing Link Report , that suggested combining CP and CN freight lines in a certain area in Ontario to free up space for more GO passenger trains. A good analysis of that report was done by Andrew Johnson in 2015. Fast forward to now and the problems associated with bringing CP and CN rail together seem to be leaning toward a CN freight bypass corridor only. This is good news still for people in Kitchener,Guelph, Waterloo but not for those who were fighting for GO train service into Cambridge. Proposed Freig...

Lorne Perry Collection - Turbo Train You have waited long enough! Visit our Turbo Train page and click on the Lorne Perry Collection to see these rare professionally shot photos. While you are on the page check out the world's largest collection of video and audio of the Turbo Train. For people wanting to bring back the Turbo Train, no problem, the original Equipment Diagrams are included on the Turbo Page also. http://www.highspeedrailcanada.com/p/uac-cn-turbo-train-archives.html

Turbo Train photo by John Stewart For subscribers of our newsletters you already had access to this short video clip of the legendary CN Turbo train. We have added it to our Turbo Train Playlist on our YouTube Channel  .It is getting harder to find any Turbo train quality footage from when Canada's only high speed train ran between Ontario and Quebec. Here is the complete  Playlist of the Turbo Train videos on our Channel. 1967 - Rare Early film - features slides, footage, turbo train  model - 1:35min 1970 - Professional Shot Turbo Train Film - 23min.- Shot professionally for CN Date unknown - 3:59 - Turbo Train - The Lost Film - 5min. Shot professionally for CN 1968 - Passenger Train - CN Turbo Train and Rapido Trains -4min 47 sec.- Super rare silent film shows not on the Turbo but also the Rapido trains with great onboard footage. 1968 - UAC CN Turbo Train film - 1min. 16 sec. - 1968 professionally shot by Pathe Films England 1968 - Turbo Tra...

RICHMOND HILL, ON, 5 Oct. 2016 /CNW/ - According to its investigation report (R15T0245) released today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has determined that incomplete communication and improper signal blocking were causal in the risk of collision between a VIA Rail train and work equipment at a Canadian National Railway (CN) work site in October 2015 in Whitby, Ontario. On 25 October 2015, before a crew started work on a CN track of the Kingston Subdivision, near Whitby, Ontario, the foreman called the CN rail traffic controller (RTC) and asked for—and received—exclusive use of the south track (which meant that trains would be operating on the north track only) between Mile 304 and Mile 305. However, the RTC inadvertently entered improper signal blocking that would still permit trains to operate on the south track past Mile 304 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/cnw/release.html?rkey=20161005C1493&filter=5599

How much does CN charge VIA RAIL to run on their tracks? London Free Press - Jonathan Sher - Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau can’t fix what ails Via Rail until he stops shunting responsibility to others and admits Via has declined for decades, a leading rail expert says. The critical comments from Greg Gormick came after Garneau and his ministry supplied what Gormick described as boilerplate responses to questions posed by The Free Press. “They bobbed and weaved,” said Gormick, a Cambridge consultant whose clients have included CN and CP, Via and General Motors’ former locomotive-making business in London. http://www.lfpress.com/2016/05/09/minister-in-denial-about-vias-woes-expert

When the federal government gave $923 million to VIA Rail for capital investment, part of the money given VIA stated was for the rebuilding 3 rail diesel cars (RDC) for new service on the North Main Line.(NML Sarnia-London-Stratford-Kitchener-Guelph-Toronto) This decision was in line with VIA Rail’s stated Corporate Plan for improvements to the North Main Line. It was also reinforced in the Environmental Study completed by GO Transit relating to their introduction of passenger trains on the NML to Kitchener. An appendix in the study stated VIA would be adding three trains each way on the line. Unfortunately this is not going to happen. So what happened and why does no one care? Enter Goderich Exeter Railway (GEXR), owned by Rail America, who lease the CN north mainline. Their relationship with VIA Rail is one of conflict. They are in disagreement about the price VIA Rail should pay to be on the line. Two times GEXR had complaints with the Canadian Transportation Agency to fi...