VIA Rail Long Distance (LD) and Inter-Regional fleet replacement

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VIA has never done bilevels, but did consider ordering Superliners back in the '80s. I wonder if there are any clearance issues on the Ocean route.
 
I'm guessing we won't be seeing a joined order with VIA Rail now? It seems they went quiet again, though I could be wrong.

It's been nearly a year since this article:
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...n-attempting-to-replace-aging-passenger-cars/

Via, although quasi-independent, needs the government's authority for big purchases.

Although there exceptions, you'll rarely see big purchases like this initiated in Canada from November to February-ish. In March you start seeing funding announcements for capital projects with funds released in April or so, following the Canadian federal fiscal year of April 1 - March 31. For reference the Siemens Venture trainset announcement was on March 18, and the FY19/20 budget starting the following April 1st actually paid for it.

If Via is going to hop on this I wouldn't expect to see the RFP for awhile.

A little too early to panic. But I'm really hopeful!

The issues that prevented bilevel equipment four decades ago are all gone these days, save perhaps Churchill?
 
Nothing to see here.
That was my reaction after watching the same item earlier today. This is nothing new to anyone who follows VIA and little more than them lobbying for more government money. In the current economic climate the public support will be somewhere between slim and none. The current government can't afford it and the next one won't afford it. Ride the Canadian while you can.
 
That was my reaction after watching the same item earlier today. This is nothing new to anyone who follows VIA and little more than them lobbying for more government money. In the current economic climate the public support will be somewhere between slim and none. The current government can't afford it and the next one won't afford it. Ride the Canadian while you can.

Is this the first time they have given a date that long distance could be discontinued by?
 
If they're serious about that 2035 deadline, well fans better start making plans to ride those cars. Either the Canadian government will fund replacements or they won't. All I can say is, they should've bought replacements back in the 1980s when they had the chance.
 
Is this the first time they have given a date that long distance could be discontinued by?
The deadline doesn’t seem to come from VIA, but from Transport Canada (Canada’s FRA) itself as the responsible regulator:
IMG_4684.jpeg
https://groups.io/g/Canadian-Passenger-Rail/topic/commons_transport_committee/104341216?p=Created,,,20,1,20,0&jump=1
Note: I don’t necessarily trust whatever information Jacob Smith has received “from a VIA employee”, but Terry Johnson is the president of Transport Action Canada (Canada’s NARP)…

If they're serious about that 2035 deadline, well fans better start making plans to ride those cars. Either the Canadian government will fund replacements or they won't. All I can say is, they should've bought replacements back in the 1980s when they had the chance.
That would have been a massive waste of taxpayer money, as VIA soonafter had more than enough longhaul equipment after beeing forced by the feds to cut half its network in January 1990. In fact, the fleet it did procure in the 1980s (the LRCs) are now literally falling apart and the last car will be withdrawn years before even the first new longhaul trainset could be delivered if it was ordered today…
 
Is there still enough time to even get complete sets out and running by then? I assume ordering long distance cars might not be as easy as the corridor train sets. I wonder how long it took the Rocky Mountaineer to get there's from planning to revenue service.
 
Is there still enough time to even get complete sets out and running by then? I assume ordering long distance cars might not be as easy as the corridor train sets. I wonder how long it took the Rocky Mountaineer to get there's from planning to revenue service.
Yes if they don't insist on doing their own thing it should be possible to get more than enough cars by then. The new Stadler cars took 4 years from order to delivery.
 
Is Transport Canada going to command Rocky Mountaineer with its LAHTS CC&F ex-CN cars from the 1950's cease to exist too ?
Transport Canada does have the statutory authority to do so should it choose to. As for whether it will or not is a separate issue. Just because it has made some statement about future possibilities does not mean it will necessarily follow through either.
 
All joking aside, I wonder how much work would really be needed to put either something Siemens is already doing together (e.g. the Nightjets) or to just license the Viewliner IIs from Amtrak.
 
All joking aside, I wonder how much work would really be needed to put either something Siemens is already doing together (e.g. the Nightjets) or to just license the Viewliner IIs from Amtrak.
Not 100% but the Siemens cars in Europe are a open design car, I would think the US car is the same.

Siemens did make a big deal about the flexibility of the interior set up. While having a standard shell with major component in a fixed location.

So with the ONR Northlander purchase of three set of railcars the ONR claimed it not to be a direct add-on to the order. Which I thought at the time to be different exterior paint and some signage. It may be a completely different inside. Custom to the unique customer of the Northland.
 
Not 100% but the Siemens cars in Europe are a open design car, I would think the US car is the same.

Siemens did make a big deal about the flexibility of the interior set up. While having a standard shell with major component in a fixed location.

So with the ONR Northlander purchase of three set of railcars the ONR claimed it not to be a direct add-on to the order. Which I thought at the time to be different exterior paint and some signage. It may be a completely different inside. Custom to the unique customer of the Northland.
Which gets back to "Why is it going to take 8-10 years to order cars?" A lag time of, say, five years makes sense, but beyond that it starts edging into the absurd.
 
Which gets back to "Why is it going to take 8-10 years to order cars?" A lag time of, say, five years makes sense, but beyond that it starts edging into the absurd.
Because at this point there are so many orders for Siemens if you want their stuff its going to be a wait. And if you rush and order the cars before design is done you get the mistake Amtrak made with airo cafe cars which pushed the project back 6 months and cost nearly 50M.
 
Because at this point there are so many orders for Siemens if you want their stuff its going to be a wait. And if you rush and order the cars before design is done you get the mistake Amtrak made with airo cafe cars which pushed the project back 6 months and cost nearly 50M.
Exactly! As I wrote elsewhere:

The press release marking the issue of [Amtrak’s] RFP states that “Fleet deliveries are projected to begin in the early 2030s”, which suggests that delivery will not have been completed by 2035, when VIA’s remaining HEP fleet will have been retired. It’s difficult to exaggerate the urgency to get the non-corridor fleet replacement approved and funded before the next election cycle starts…

VIA would be stuck behind the queue of this and all other existing orders…
 
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So with the ONR Northlander purchase of three set of railcars the ONR claimed it not to be a direct add-on to the order. Which I thought at the time to be different exterior paint and some signage. It may be a completely different inside. Custom to the unique customer of the Northland.
The ONR order is supposed to delete the Business car in favor of a cafe, which may or may not have table seating as opposed to VIA's cart service in coach. There was some discussion about vending machines but that was considered unlikely given the Northlander's lengthy route and varied meal periods covered.
 
Exactly! As I wrote elsewhere:



VIA would be stuck behind the queue of this and all other existing orders…
Does Canada have local-content laws like we have in the States? If not, perhaps VIA could just order stuff from a foreign manufacture who might be able to deliver in a more timely manner.
 
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