In 1990, VIA Rail Canada terminated regular rail passenger service between Halifax and Sydney Nova Scotia. As a result, many towns along the route lost their most tangible link with the outside world. Some ten years later VIA decided to partially restore this service with a once a week seasonal train running from Halifax to Sydney and back. The name of this train was the Bras d'Or (pronounced by the Anglophones exactly like Labrador but without the "la"). The wonderfully maintained trainset used on this route was part of the fleet VIA used for its regular six times a week service between Quebec and Halifax. Apparently there was only sufficient equipment for this one, midweek roundtrip to Sydney. Unfortunately, the service was so infrequent that you had to go out of your way to arrange your travel schedule to take the train at all. In July 2000, I flew into Sydney from the French Atlantic islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon specifically to ride the Bras d'Or back to Halifax. The service was priced at first class rates and no intermediate or connecting stops were included. For example, we passed through North Sydney less than a half kilometer from the Newfoundland ferry landing without a station stop. The route of the Bras d'Or had much touristic promise, but VIA ultimately failed in its effort both to promote the service to tourists and to integrate this train with the remainder of Canada's rail passenger services. No westward connection at Truro was possible; an overnight in Halifax or Truro would have been necessary for a passenger continuing on to Quebec or other westbound destinations. There were no tour groups on our train back in 2000 and, of course, no local traffic. Predictably, VIA cancelled this service in the fall of 2004 with few having had the opportunity to enjoy the gentle grace and splendid panoramas which this journey afforded. Details regarding the cancellation of service on this route are taken from this web page: On December 18, 2003, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced a freeze in federal spending on all major capital projects, including VIA's five-year $700 million capital investment 'Renaissance II' program announced just six weeks earlier by outgoing Prime Minister Chrétien's administration. Critics of Martin's cuts claimed that he was in a distinct conflict of interest as his family through Canada Steamship Lines and various subsidiary and affiliated companies, had a significant investment in the Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines, an intercity bus line in Quebec and eastern Ontario that is a key competitor of VIA Rail. Route cuts under the Martin government included the withdrawal of the seasonal The Bras d'Or tourist train, which ran for the last time in September 2004... |
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Our train had about twelve revenue passengers, roughly equal to the number of aggregate crew members there to serve us. And, indeed, the service was extraordinarily attentive. One explanation for the mediocre ridership was that VIA didn't make the final decision to operate this train until March of 2000. This, apparently, was too late a date to coordinate with tour operators who could (and should) be providing substantial ridership for the train. We were told the train was a three year experiment. In fact it lasted five years until the end of the summer of 2004. |
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The train, with its two dome cars, afforded magnificent views of the lakes, woods and farms that we passed through as we headed south through the center of Cape Breton. |
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Two young women from Cape Breton were working for VIA to provide the passengers with a sampling of typical Nova Scotia folk music and dancing. Dressed in their Cape Breton tartans, they conveyed their heartfelt enthusiastiasm for their home. |
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Before the construction of causeway in 1955, trains and cars would begin their southward crossing of the Strait of Canso here at Port Hawkesbury. Today the rails and road together cross at the causeway, a short distance to the west. We stopped, however, for an hour or so to sample some local chowder and to stretch our legs. While pleasant enough, because this stop added an hour to the scheduled travel time, it also worked against the notion that this train could actually carry conventional (non-touristic) revenue passengers through Nova Scotia as its predecessor trains did for many decades. |
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The train provided excellent views of the tidal backwashes from the Bay of Fundy and of the farmlands of central Nova Scotia. At Truro the train left the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway and rejoined the CN mainline where, with better maintained track, we were able to substantially increase our speed. |
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We arrived in the Port of Halifax well ahead of schedule some ten hours after our departure from Sydney. |
