VIA Siemens Venture Trains

 

 

by Keith MacCauley

Recently I had the opportunity to travel from Toronto to Montreal and back, both ways on VIA’s new Venture Trains. Some observations as follows.

I was fortunate enough to travel in Business Class (VIA 1), which included bar service and a meal. The onboard Wi-Fi was steady with only minimal interruptions. The interior of the premium Venture coach was bright and airy with a mixture of light and dark grey colouring along with simulated wood grain accents. The washroom was basically airliner like in size and appointments. Leg room is plentiful with decently padded seats arranged in a two/aisle/one arrangement. A total of four electrical outlets are available at either seat arrangement. To me the ride is not quite as good as that of LRC coaches and suffers from a more or less constant rocking/oscillating motion. Thinking that this movement attribute is related to push (locomotive at rear of consist) rather than pull operation. Top speed noted on the overhead display console was 160 KPH. Only a couple of pet peeves. Similar to the refurbished LRC VIA 1 coaches, half the seats face forward, while the other half face backward. Guessing that regular coach fare is configured likewise. I understand that turning train sets is costly, however reversible seating (available on Amtrak Amfleet coaches) was invented over a century ago. Surely, a modern-day version could be engineered. Not sure that one can book forward facing as along the way I noted Venture train sets configured both ways; locomotive leading, locomotive trailing. As reference, the seat reversal is between rows eight and nine. Much more annoyingly, the seats do not recline; again, surely a modern-day version (as was included in the VIA 1 LRC upgrade) could have been specified. Overall, to me, a very worthwhile expenditure of hard-earned tax dollars on behalf of VIA. Regrettably, unlike the LRC train sets, not designed or built in Canada (incredibly, the BBD built LRC passenger cars are more than forty years old and well beyond their service design timeframe for an aluminum bodied transportation structure).