[scooby074]

I was trying to find the proper place to put this, but many rely on Acadian lines to get in and out of the Halifax area... So, here it is

Acadian Lines is Closing by November 30.

A bad day for public transportation. No Via, now no buses.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/124606-acadian-lines-shutting-down-by-nov-30

[cormiermax]

It could be good for VIA.

[someone123]

It could be good for VIA.

Even if there were a lot of demand for this sort of service I'm not sure VIA would take advantage of it.

I wonder how much of the problem here is that these are basically large Ontario/Quebec companies. Their core business is not in the Maritimes and there's not a lot of incentive for them to make things work there.

[teddifax]

It's too bad JD Irving sold it years ago, things may have been different under their local ownership!

[someone123]

I wonder if there should be some sort of public bus and possibly rail service established in the Maritimes that could be shared by all 3 provinces. There could be a main Halifax-Moncton-Saint John route and then some bus routes connecting up to that to serve nearby areas.

This is a pretty essential service in rural areas. There are the disabled, the elderly and people who can't afford a car for one reason or another. What happens when these people have to go in to the hospital for some non-emergency? Are they out of luck unless they can find somebody else to drive them? As far as provincial level government services go this wouldn't be very expensive, and it is something that is provided for in many provinces in Canada. The federal government recently invested money in a Vancouver Island passenger rail route and there are many other routes like Churchill that are probably not profitable and yet have been deemed essential and continue on regardless.

Along the major route like Moncton-Halifax I think there would be tons of demand for a good service. I have trouble believing that the route isn't viable. Are there other companies providing bus or shuttle service?

[q12]

Here's what's available for railway lines:

2004 maps:

Halifax Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-Halifax.pdf) (Bayers Lake line is gone)

Nova Scotia Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-NS_sub.pdf)

New Brunswick Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-NB_sub.pdf)

http://www.proximityissues.ca/english/maps1.cfm

[scooby074]

Along the major route like Moncton-Halifax I think there would be tons of demand for a good service. I have trouble believing that the route isn't viable. Are there other companies providing bus or shuttle service?

No other companies. Just Acadian.

Bad, bad day for those without a car.

The losses weren't "that" bad, they said they lost $12M since 2004. I know, no business run at a loss for long, but in this case it could have been much worse, frankly when I read the headline I assumed that it WAS worse than 12 million over 8 years.

But as mentioned, this is a Quebec company with no real ties here, so they have no qualms about pulling the plug.

Via due to their interest in central canada won't capitalize on this either. A shame, since even considering the fact that many railbeds have been turned into "trails", they still could reach a large percentage of the population. Plus it would give some badly needed traffic on the CBNS section from Truro to CB.

[MonctonRad]

I was trying to find the proper place to put this, but many rely on Acadian lines to get in and out of the Halifax area... So, here it is

Acadian Lines is Closing by November 30.

A bad day for public transportation. No Via, now no buses.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/124606-acadian-lines-shutting-down-by-nov-30

Not to be picky, but as this is an issue that disproportionately affects rural Maritimers, perhaps the best place to post (and discuss) this is in the Atlantic Canada Regional Transportation Thread.

Halifax forumers are reminded that they are more than welcome to peruse and post in the threads in the general Atlantic Canada section. :)

I agree with the sentiments expressed here. I think it is time for the three provincial governments to step in and find a local Maritime operator for Acadian Lines or it's successor.

[Helladog]

May I also add that the ferry connecting Digby to Saint John is getting closer to becoming obsolete.

[resetcbu1]

Who was the new owner of Acadien Lines since Irving sold it?

I wonder if greyhound would be interested in giving it a go , although they have been makin cuts accross the board lately ..... but I'd imagine at least the Hfx-CB , Hfx - Mct - SJ -Que and route to valley would be profitable?

With all of the ecconomic boosts heading to the region seems like there must be opertunity for someone to operate a viable transit there , atleast in the near future .... and how much did mismanagement come into play of the demise of Acadien???

this company has been providing transport since the mid 30's .... what a shame

[MTLskyline]

This is surprising.

I used to take Via Rail to Moncton and then Acadian Lines to Charlottetown. The bus was always full. Although it really didn't need to stop in some of the small towns like Kensington, etc.

[scooby074]

Who was the new owner of Acadien Lines since Irving sold it?

I wonder if greyhound would be interested in giving it a go , although they have been makin cuts accross the board lately ..... but I'd imagine at least the Hfx-CB , Hfx - Mct - SJ -Que and route to valley would be profitable?

With all of the ecconomic boosts heading to the region seems like there must be opertunity for someone to operate a viable transit there , atleast in the near future .... and how much did mismanagement come into play of the demise of Acadien???

this company has been providing transport since the mid 30's .... what a shame

Orleans Express out of Quebec is the current owner of Acadian.

In the latest update to the story in the CH, there is some discussion that Ambassatours Gray Line might be interested in taking over some of the routes. Who knows where that will lead, but one has to imagine that the "main" runs, basically following the TCH From sydney (NFLD Ferry) to Halifax , Moncton, Fredericton etc. should be somewhat profitable?

[scooby074]

Atlantic Canada Regional Transportation Thread.


Ahh. Didnt see that.. I get scared when I go out of "Local Halifax" LOL.

Would a duplicate thread there be a good idea? Or perhaps an admin can move this one? I think its a great discussion and one that needs to happen for all Maritimers.

[isaidso]

Acadian Lines is Closing by November 30.

A bad day for public transportation. No Via, now no buses.



That's terrible, but there's no VIA rail? When did that happen?

[Nouvellecosse]

I never heard anything about VIA being stopped. But admittedly I never used VIA since it didn't offer the variety of departure times. The bus left toward NB 3 times/day while the train only made one trip.

That, and because the bus stopped in Dartmouth.

[isaidso]

I never heard anything about VIA being stopped. But admittedly I never used VIA since it didn't offer the variety of departure times. The bus left toward NB 3 times/day while the train only made one trip.

That, and because the bus stopped in Dartmouth.

I'm pretty sure the 'Ocean' still pulls into Halifax rail station from Montreal.

[MonctonRad]

I'm pretty sure the 'Ocean' still pulls into Halifax rail station from Montreal.

They are going to reduce the service frequency to three times per week. A final step towards cancelling the service completely.

Step 1 - reduce service frequency until the service is too irrelevant/inconvenient for passengers to use.
Step 2 - cancel the service while stating that the public no longer uses it and it is not profitable to continue.

I give VIA another 2-3 years..... :hell:

[MonctonRad]

Reposted from the Atlantic Canada Regional Transportation Thread:

In a perfect world, this would be the ideal time for the three provincial governments to join forces and develop a single coherent regional public transportation strategy for the entire region.

My preference would be for a transit strategy based on regional rail, supplemented by bus service from outside communities to railway "hubs".

These two maps show the remaining rail lines in the region:

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z411/MonctonRad/Snapbucket/c621b968.jpg

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z411/MonctonRad/Snapbucket/ff4db682.jpg

The core of system would obviously be a rail service from Saint John to Moncton and on to Truro and Halifax. I suppose the service could be extended to Fredericton as well, but since the terminus would be in Fredericton Junction, (a considerable distance from the city), I'm not sure how well supported this would be. Perhaps one of the Fredericton forumers would be able to expound on this matter. Ideally, I would like this to be a twice daily service in order to build ridership. If you want to make a service popular, you have to make it convenient.

There might be the potential for a second passenger rail service from Sydney to Halifax via Truro. This probably would be no more than once daily, but this would give three times daily service from Truro to Halifax (four times on those days that VIA is running).

I am not sure about running another line along the eastern shore of NB from Campbellton to Moncton. For the time being, this corridor will still be served three times weekly with VIA. A thrice weekly service just doesn't cut it for passenger convenience, especially for people who just need to go down to Moncton for the day for medical appointmants etc. A daily service on this corridor would be preferrable.

There is obviousy an option for local commuter rail between Windsor NS and Halifax. This should be explored.

To supplement this, connecting bus routes should be established, for example from Charlottetown to Moncton, Fredericton to Saint John, Edmunston to Fredericton, Yarmouth to Halifax (both via the Annapolis Valley and the South Shore).

Just think about how lively our rail stations could become. There could be 5-6 passenger trains per day in Moncton, with interconnecting busses arriving at the station from Charlottetown etc. In Halifax there could be 6-7 trains per day (many more with regional commuter rail) as well as all the connecting busses.

Now is definitely the time to think about this! :yes:

[scooby074]

That's terrible, but there's no VIA rail? When did that happen?

No VIA intercity. Just the Ocean, and that's been cut way back.

Via intercity (rail liners) have been discontinued for years. 15 maybe?

[q12]

From this CBC story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/08/08/ns-acadian-lines-union-reaction.html

"We've got runs that we're running two and three people on the road. You can't afford to keep a bus on the road when you've only go two or thee passengers."

Many of the runs that are sparsely populated are located in Northern New Brunswick, he said. Webber said he hopes government will step in.

It sounds like it would be viable if the Northern New Brunwswick routes were eliminated.

I find it hard to believe that bus service can't make money on Freddy, St.John, Moncton, Charlottetown along with the Nova Scotia routes.

There has been successful Commuter van service from the Annapolis Valley to Halifax for years. http://www.greenrider.ca/

Current Route Map: http://www.acadianbus.com/Images/interface/AcadianCarte2011.pdf
http://i49.tinypic.com/1z6goht.jpg

Potential New Route Map?
http://i47.tinypic.com/m52e1.jpg

[goosnarrggh]

Here's what's available for railway lines:

2004 maps:

Halifax Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-Halifax.pdf) (Bayers Lake line is gone)

Nova Scotia Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-NS_sub.pdf)

New Brunswick Railway Map (http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-NB_sub.pdf)

http://www.proximityissues.ca/english/maps1.cfm

Another note for the Halifax map:
The rail line from the Narrows to North St via Kempt Rd is also non-existent.

I never knew it to run all the way to North St for my entire time living in the North End (since the late 80s); any right-of-way which may have existed to allow for such a run is now long gone.

I remember it used to extend as far as Pierceys (around the former merge-point of Kempt & Robie) until the redevelopment of that corner in the early 90s; at that time the entire spur was torn up, all the way back to Africville/Seaview Park. One or two CN-logo rail bridges still exist around Lady Hammond Rd and Kempt Rd as reminders of this former line, but the rails were torn up years ago.

(Presumably that line used to provide rail connectivity to the main Post Office on Almon St, and the former military depot near North & Gladstone.)

[halifaxboyns]

Another note for the Halifax map:
The rail line from the Narrows to North St via Kempt Rd is also non-existent.

I never knew it to run all the way to North St for my entire time living in the North End (since the late 80s); any right-of-way which may have existed to allow for such a run is now long gone.

I remember it used to extend as far as Pierceys (around the former merge-point of Kempt & Robie) until the redevelopment of that corner in the early 90s; at that time the entire spur was torn up, all the way back to Africville/Seaview Park. One or two CN-logo rail bridges still exist around Lady Hammond Rd and Kempt Rd as reminders of this former line, but the rails were torn up years ago.

(Presumably that line used to provide rail connectivity to the main Post Office on Almon St, and the former military depot near North & Gladstone.)

It didn't quite go up to North Street because I don't recall it there in the early 80's. Someone told me around the 70's it got to the post office, but then was torn up and went as far as Young Street for the military. You can still see where the line would have existed, although the building with Avis and Halifax Autosport is on what would have been part of the right of way.

I'm surprised that the two old bridges were allowed to remain. They are getting up there in years...

With the rail line removed, I don't see much point in keeping the area commercial/industrial in nature. Time for it to become something new!

[Canadian_Bacon]

Taken from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2012/08/09/pei-trius-acadian-584.html

Bus company plans to fill void left by Acadian

A P.E.I. company is looking to step up and replace much of the Maritime intercity bus service currently being offered by Acadian Lines, which has said it is shutting down its business at the end of November.

Trius Tours owner Mike Cassidy is preparing a pitch for Maritime governments in the hopes his company can reach a deal that will allow it to operate a profitable intercity bus service in the region.

In announcing the end of its service, Acadian said it had lost millions of dollars. Government regulations require it to operate on low-traffic routes alongside the more profitable ones.

Cassidy believes with some changes to government regulations, allowing a mix of companies to cover the region, profitable business is possible.

"I think there is a huge opportunity for what I call the shuttle-van service that operates within the Maritimes, along with a motor coach operator that would have the larger units on the larger ridership routes," said Cassidy.

Cassidy's proposal would see smaller companies with smaller vehicles filling in the low-traffic routes.
I think someone will step in and fill the void left behind by Acadian. But the government will need to work with them, losen their grip and let the private companies work out their schedule etc.

[RyeJay]

From this CBC story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/08/08/ns-acadian-lines-union-reaction.html



It sounds like it would be viable if the Northern New Brunwswick routes were eliminated.

I find it hard to believe that bus service can't make money on Freddy, St.John, Moncton, Charlottetown along with the Nova Scotia routes.

There has been successful Commuter van service from the Annapolis Valley to Halifax for years. http://www.greenrider.ca/

Current Route Map: http://www.acadianbus.com/Images/interface/AcadianCarte2011.pdf
http://i49.tinypic.com/1z6goht.jpg

Potential New Route Map?
http://i47.tinypic.com/m52e1.jpg

We may still be able to salvage bus routes throughout northern New Brunswick, as well as for rural routes in Nova Scotia that are not located along the main route between Moncton and Halifax.

The provinces will blink.

As a heavy user of Acadian between Moncton and Halifax, I'm willing to bet there is clearly demand for the larger buses between Maritimer cities. Nearly every bus I've been on was at full capacity (though this may partially be culminated with 'northerners'). As for the rural communities, we'll see if smaller, less frequent run buses can be managed. Villages and towns with a college or university need this bus service for the local student population.

Routes between the cities, however, is absolutely vital since urbanites more commonly do not own vehicles.

[19200]

All of this system existed prior to January 1990 when the PC government cut back VIA by 50% funding, and took all of the linking RDC and Bus routes that VIA chartered out.

Moncton was a hub. Busses from C-town, other parts of NB would meet at the rail station. The Ocean would be waiting to depart on the northeast shore, adn the Atlantic would arrive from halifax.

All of the passengers from the RDC routes also were present to meet their connections.

Why they chose to destroy this system in the name of funding is beyond me. We now have people who cannot get from A to B, let alone C or D.

We need the system back to a close to it was prior to 1990. Then Canadians can travel about their country.

[scooby074]

Sounds like Via wants to be more integrated with Acadien's replacement.

Gotta laugh..All the years they were supposed to be "integrated", and they regularly missed connection times, didn't share facilities, no all in one pricing etc..

If Via is so concerned about Maritimers' mobility, why gut the Ocean? Why not bring back the Rail Liners with more modern stock?

Lip service, nothing more.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/130904-via-rail-wants-to-integrate-bus-rail-services-in-maritimes

[scooby074]

Looks like Ambassatours dropped out of the running to be Acadian's replacement leaving only Trius.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time assessing it, but the reality is that I’ve stated all along I think there is opportunity there, but ... there’s no quick fix to this situation.

“There’s going to need to be a lot of investment, a lot of resources put forth by whoever the operator is.”

“And as we assess our existing operation, we just said we had no shortage of opportunities within our present business, and we said that the reality is we are not set up as a line-run operator.”

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/business/130955-ambassatours-wont-bid-to-replace-acadian-bus-lines

[teddifax]

Via Rail wants to integrate bus, rail services in Maritimes
11 hours ago
By BRETT BUNDALE Business Reporter
Via Rail president Marc Laliberte speaks at a chamber of commerce meeting in Halifax on Wednesday. (PETER PARSONS / Staff)

















.



.


UPDATED 7:11 p.m. Wednesday

In an attempt to bolster its bottom line and serve passengers better, Via Rail Canada is planning to integrate bus and rail services in the Maritimes.

Via Rail president Marc Laliberte said the passenger train company was in talks with Acadian bus lines before the coach company announced it was folding Nov. 30.

Despite the lack of an operator, Via Rail is committed to an intermodal transportation network in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

“We realize that Acadian bus lines just made an announcement to cut their service, but we hope that void will be filled by somebody else,” Laliberte told The Chronicle Herald during an editorial board meeting.

“If there is a bus operator somewhere that is interested in starting a shared service, they should come to see us. We have a nice place at the Halifax train station for them.”

Prince Edward Island’s Trius Tours Ltd. and Halifax’s Ambassatours Gray Line applauded Via Rail’s focus on integrated bus and rail services.

Mike Cassidy, the owner of Trius Tours Ltd., has filed an application with the regulator in Nova Scotia to take over the regional and charter services Acadian is abandoning. He said his company will file a similar application in New Brunswick by Friday.

“There is no question in my mind that we would work with all the transportation providers in the region to provide the best level of service to passengers,” Cassidy said.

“The president of Via Rail is hitting it right on the mark. One of the steps we have to do is talk to Via and get a feel for what an integrated transportation system would look like so that when we’re in front of the board for the hearing we have that market research done and we can present that as our evidence.”

Ambassatours president Dennis Campbell said that although the chartered bus service has decided not to file an application to replace Acadian bus lines, he fully supports an integrated approach to transportation.

“I think it’s absolutely fantastic because, if you look at other parts of the world, intermodal is what it’s all about in that ... it’s all about the end-user.”

Laliberte said there is a market opportunity to develop intermodal partnerships with buses, airlines and car-sharing organizations.

Via Rail plans to integrate web ticketing, harmonize schedules and cross-promote intermodal services to simplify travel plans.

“We’d like to make travelling simpler for passengers. We want them to be able to arrange all their travel plans from one website.”

Via Rail has already formed intermodal partnerships over the past 12 months in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia with bus lines.

More recently, the passenger rail company joined forces with Air Transat to help travellers make the journey between their home, airport and vacation destination.

Air Transat and Via Rail have streamlined their service schedules to encourage the purchase of tickets combining both modes of transportation.

Laliberte said the rail company has also formed a partnership with Communauto, a car-share service in Montreal.

Via Rail would be open to talking with CarShareHFX to form a similar partnership, he said.

The passenger train company does not enter into exclusive partnership agreements, and Laliberte said partners need a level of service that compares with Via Rail.

“We’re always open to connect with multiple partners, but they need to have a certain standard of service and accessibility. Once that’s in place, we’re open to discussions.”

(bbundale@herald.ca)

[q12]

I wasn't aware of this, but the TRIUS bus company that is mostly likely replacing Acadien Lines already has a daily return bus line-run from Halifax to Yarmouth via the south shore (Along Highway 103 and stops in Bridgwater etc.)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/131789-trius-tours-ready-to-replace-acadian-if-it-wins-bus-bid

http://www.peisland.com/triustours/line.htm