Local teen using VIA Rail offer to travel the nation
Building a railway line across Canada played a key role in the formation of the country, and now train travel from coast to coast is what thousands of young people, including one locally, will do to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.
More than 4,000 young people have taken up VIA Rail’s offer of a $150 pass for unlimited travel in Canada for the month of July, said company spokesperson Mylene Belanger.
Even though Theo Weigel, 18, of Medicine Hat has never been on a train before, it did not take him long to decide to buy his special pass.
“I’m diving right in,” said Weigel, who begins his journey Saturday in Edmonton. “I just want to see our great country.” That’s how VIA Rail sees it too. “The train brought Canada together to form confederation. We hope that this summer, many young Canadians will discover places they didn’t know about, create lasting memories and share our pride of being Canadians,” said Belanger.
Weigel has visited the site of the Last Spike where on Nov. 7, 1885 the ceremonial final spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, B.C., according to Wikipedia. It fulfilled a commitment by the federal government to B.C. The promise of a transcontinental railway had been a big factor in B.C.’s decision to join the Canadian Confederation.
“It was a very important tool in bringing our country together,” said Weigel, who loves history and geography.
When VIA Rail posted the $150 pass on its website on March 27, word spread on social media with about 4,281 VIA Rail Canada 150 passes selling in less than 36 hours. A total of 21,800 individual trips have already been booked under the program, said Belanger.
“The (web)site experienced five times the usual volume of traffic, causing the reservation system to crash. VIA Rail had to temporarily suspend sales of the pass to maintain the integrity of the site and allow normal ticket sales,” said Belanger.
The first leg of Weigel’s journey from Edmonton to Toronto would normally cost about $500, said Weigel. After spending July 4 at Niagara Falls he will continue on to Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Ottawa and Winnipeg. VIA Rail’s schedule and maps contributed to the decisions on routes, destinations and stops.
From the train there will be panoramic views of Canada’s vast and varied countryside and an opportunity to really get to know other people on the train, said Weigel. With only the equivalent of an airline seat, and no bed while on the train, there will be lots of time to talk to fellow travellers. Weigel says he has a tendency to get into “interesting situations.” He plans to blog and in the future perhaps even write a book about his adventure.
Around the middle of July the News will catch up with Weigel in Montreal for an interview about the first leg of his journey and will bring you that story.