Ventures are Coming! The Ventures are Coming!

No, it's not the British that are coming (see also Paul Revere - Revolutionary War), although the new Siemens Venture sets are revolutionary. They've been much better-received by crews and passengers alike than those troublesome redcoats from Old Blighty - dude, they're from sun-soaked California! VIA has released reservation space for Ventures in the real CN Kingston Sub (sorry, but the part east of Coteau on the Montreal-Ottawa run doesn't do anything for me here in Kingston, so let's stay focused! The Coteau-Brockville segment folks get one Venture per week...in the dark!

So the top photo is about to become a much more common sight in Kingston, starting less than a week from now. The long-awaited Montreal-Toronto Venture service is almost here, with the vast majority of the new service operating Ottawa-Toronto beginning Tuesday, October 24th. This fast-approaching date will mark the introduction of a fourth Venture set in service. Two Venture sets have already been in regular Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa service, and a third enters that service on October 24th. There are also a guard consist and a maintenance consist plugged into the rotation of six sets.

VIA is also adding (restoring) 23 new frequencies on various days on six Corridor trains as of the week of October 24th: Toronto-London Nos 82/83; Toronto-Ottawa Nos 644/646 and 43/647.

[I've never been a 'schedule person'. Former colleagues could look at an upcoming schedule and instantly decipher key dates or patterns. So, the following information is presented for information only, completely subject to operational exigencies and does not replace information available on VIA's website.]

All rotations shown below are full-week, beginning on Monday and ending on Sunday, normally with two trains per weekday but some weekend days only one train per day. If I were more energized, I would produce a table or fancy graphic showing days of the week, but you're smart, loyal Trackside Treasure reader, and you'll figure it out!

The rotation for the existing Venture 1 set (Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa runs) which began around June 19, 2023 (the pre-commercial launch date for the first Corridor service):

V1:35-28-35-38-31-28-35-28-35-38-622-39-28.

The rotation for the existing Venture 2 set (also Q-M-O) which began around September 17, 2023:

V2: 33-26-33-26-35-38-20-37-22-39-24-29-633-26.

The rotation for the new Venture 3 set (also Q-M-O) beginning October 24, 2023:

V3: 31-38-31-28-33-26-33-26-33-26-37-24-29.

The rotation for the new Venture 4 set (mostly Ottawa-Toronto) also beginning October 24, 2023 (start day starred*):

V4: M 45-48; T 41*- 48*; W 41-48; Th 41-646; F 43-668-MMC; Sa 633; Su 43-646. 

It's been about 25 months since the first Venture set was hauled down the same CN Kingston Sub on September 29, 2021 (above). Maintenance facilities at the Toronto Maintenance Centre are under development, the Montreal Maintenance Centre is filling up with unused Venture sets, and crew training continues apace, so it's time for them to Venture out! VIA is touting the new service in a variety of media including the National Post.

I'm slowly working my way out of these pop-up posts and I'll be including 'a Running Extra' section after each post again. I will take this end-of-post opportunity to thank the many sources from the VIA enthusiast community who covertly and non-covertly send information my way. This humble blogger will not burn his sources, and have done my best to honour their wishes. (Hey, it's always presumptuous to talk about yourself in the third person! Doesn't he know that??)