VIA Rail Canada

[Viafreak]

I don't think that they are prohibited from buying new diesels that aren't Tier 4. Which is to say, that the EPA Tiers have no effect on Canada. CN bought engines (2951-2975) that were exempt from the Tiers. The only stipulation was that they couldn't cross the border. For VIA, the same rules would apply. As I recall, their current engines aren't allowed into the States as they don't have sanders.

[Bus_Medic]

18 hours ago, Shaun said:

VIA needs new equipment not hand me downs. Plus they are not capable of doing 90/100 mbps in the corridor. 

And the HEP voltage is different. 

For the umpteenth time, hep voltages can be modified if necessary.

[smallspy]

21 hours ago, Viafreak said:

As I recall, their current engines aren't allowed into the States as they don't have sanders.

The lack of sanders does not appear to be an issue, as the FRA has made allowances for inoperative, faulty or even a lack of sanders in its rules.

 

Rather, there are many, many, many other aspects of TC's rules and regulations that the VIA units meet that prevent them from running in the US.

 

Dan

[dowlingm]

On 4/19/2018 at 10:16 PM, skyfirenet said:

Well, we could always call them Turboliners: The Next Generation.

The last generation are getting shot full of holes by cops. http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=166646

On 5/12/2018 at 10:13 AM, Transit geek said:

Well instead of reusing and upgrading such old locomotives, maybe they could consider the model that Metrolink is replacing them with - the EMD F125. Not sure how reliable these would be on long-haul routes, though. Another option would be the Siemens SC-44 Charger, which has seen orders from both state DoT's and commuter rail operators.

I doubt EMD has much political capital to be chosen over Siemens given how they exited London ON for Indiana

[Doppelkupplung]

How come the refurb’d LRCs no longer have marker lights? Was it not a TC regulation?

[smallspy]

2 hours ago, Doppelkupplung said:

How come the refurb’d LRCs no longer have marker lights? Was it not a TC regulation?

That regulation was changed to allow other forms of signifying the end of a train in the CROR about 30 years ago. More recently however it remained an internal CN requirement until about 10 years ago or so.

 

Dan

[Shaun]

Does the Government have the power to legislate that Via should be given priority on CN's network? 

https://www.thenorthernview.com/local-news/give-via-rail-passengers-priority-says-councillor-randhawa/

[littlewill1166]

6 hours ago, Shaun said:

Does the Government have the power to legislate that Via should be given priority on CN's network? 

https://www.thenorthernview.com/local-news/give-via-rail-passengers-priority-says-councillor-randhawa/

They do, but CN would just change trackage fees so high that VIA wouldn't be able to operate.

[smallspy]

13 hours ago, littlewill1166 said:

They do, but CN would just change trackage fees so high that VIA wouldn't be able to operate.

If the Government was to legislate that kind of power, don't you think that they would also legislate the trackage fees charged? After all, that's how it (largely) works down in the US with Amtrak - the freight railways are not allowed to charge just any amount for track access.

 

Dan

[Shaun]

https://www-cbc-ca.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4675680?amp_js_v=a1&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCCAE%3D#amp_tf=From %1%24s

Here is another article, but this time about the Canadian. 

It's a tough situation but I guess dispatch could care less if Via is 30 hours late arriving at their destination. 

I think the only way to fix it would be fines for CN if they delaying the train beyond a reasonable amount of time. Or give passenger trains priority. 

[Allandale25]

 

 

From the CTV News twitter account: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BREAKING: Deal reached to restore rail link to Manitoba's isolated Churchill community http://bit.ly/2JhO4IE

 

 

[Shaun]

I wrote an e-mail to the Federal Minister of Transportation and i got a reply. Frankly I was surprised that they even bothered to write back.

Thank you for your correspondence of May 24, 2018, regarding VIA Rail Canada Inc. 

 

As Minister of Transport, my overarching goal is to ensure that Canada’s transportation system is safe and reliable, that it supports our ambitious economic growth and job creation agenda, and that it facilitates trade and the movement of people and goods.

 

VIA is an independent Crown corporation that operates at arm’s length from the Government of Canada and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.  My role is to determine the broad policy direction of the corporation while respecting its operational autonomy.  I have therefore shared your email with Mr. Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA, for his consideration.

 

Directly related to the delays you described, I would note that the interaction between freight and passenger rail, and its impacts on on-time performance at VIA, is a difficult and long‑standing issue that Transport Canada is currently reviewing.

 

The government is exploring options on the best approach to passenger rail going forward, including solutions to increase VIA’s on-time performance.  In this context, proposals are being developed to ensure that Canada’s passenger rail service is offered in a safe, reliable and cost‑effective manner.  

 

As you noted in your email, Budget 2018 announced funding for fleet renewal for VIA to replace coaches and locomotives in the Windsor–Quebec City Corridor with 32 new, bi‑directional trains, maintaining current seating capacity.  The new fleet will:

 

• reduce environmental impacts and improve air quality, as engines with the latest technology will be more fuel efficient;
• improve accessibility and the traveller experience by including visual communications media for hearing-impaired passengers, purpose-built accessible washrooms, on-board wheelchair lifts, and a minimum of three wheelchair tie-downs per train, with two in the same car, an increase from the current one tie-down per train; and
• increase VIA’s operational flexibility and reliability by reducing the mechanical breakdowns that affect on-time performance.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

 

Yours sincerely,

[yrt1000]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/accident-via-rail-trains-cancellation-1.4689212

Another major via rail cancellation. All trains today between London and Windsor have been cancelled. I gather that they’re shuttling people between London and Toronto, but for those travelling between London and Windsor, you’re out of luck. 

Of course, it always seems stuff like this happens on days I am travelling with via rail 

[GM5000]

On 6/1/2018 at 6:54 PM, Shaun said:

I wrote an e-mail to the Federal Minister of Transportation and i got a reply. Frankly I was surprised that they even bothered to write back.

I'm glad you said "reply" and not "answer".  You certainly didn't get an "answer"..... 

[Oc4526]

Found this on my Twitter feed

http://strategyonline.ca/2018/06/18/check-it-out-via-rail-gives-new-life-to-an-old-train/

[Allandale25]

Shortlist of manufacturers has been released. Full detailshere.

 

Quote

 

MONTREAL, June 18, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) announced today the names of the shortlisted applicants that will participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) to manufacture the rolling stock to replace the current fleet that operates in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Today's announcement is the result of a request for qualification (RFQ) process launched on April 16, 2018 seeking the interest of world-class manufacturers. Qualified companies will have until October 5, 2018 to submit a proposal. The new trainsets will come into service starting in 2022.

 

 

Qualified companies

 

• Bombardier Transportation Canada Inc.
• Siemens Canada Limited
• Stadler US Inc.
• Talgo Inc.

Evaluation of qualification applications

 

In accordance with its day-to-day business practices, VIA Rail conducted a rigorous, fair, open, transparent and free of conflicts of interest confidential analysis of all qualification applications. P1 Consulting, a Canadian leader in fairness monitoring, ensured that the RFQ process was executed with the utmost diligence and fairness.

 

Three evaluation committees, comprised of internal and external evaluators, conducted the application analysis process:

 

1. Technical Committee: Responsible for assessing the technical quality (Applicant Experience; Proposed Solution; and Deliverability) of each application.
2. Financial Review Committee: Responsible for assessing the financial capability of companies that submitted an application.
3. Conflict of interest Committee : Responsible for managing conflict of interest situations, if any

Ethics Commissioner Appointment

 

In the pursuit of the most rigorous governance practices for large procurements, VIA Rail also announced today the appointment of Patrick A. Molinari as the Ethics Commissioner for the Corporation's procurement process for the Corridor Fleet Renewal. The Ethics Commissioner's role is to review and investigate allegations of misconduct, suspected wrongdoings or unethical behavior, including fraudulent activities or financial irregularities, misuse of public funds, or allegations of violation of the Corporation's Code of ethics, and to assist with the fair, equitable and expeditious resolution of these matters related to the Corridor's Fleet Renewal procurement process.

 

Patrick A. Molinari is professor emeritus of the University of Montreal where he pursued a career from 1977 to 2010 and held the positions of Vice-Rector, Administration, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Director of the Public Law Research Center. He currently practices Government Affairs and Public law with Lavery, a Montreal based firm, and is the President of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice.

 

Quote

 

"By inviting four world-class train manufacturers to participle in the RFP to replace our corridor fleet, we have reached an important milestone of our transformation plan to lead Canadians towards a more sustainable future. With a brand-new fleet of modern trains to service the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, we will be able to offer our customers a renewed and improved travel experience that will help us convince them to make the smart choice to travel by train. We are also proud to be able to count on the expertise of Patrick A. Molinari to ensure that VIA Rail maintains the level of trust and accountability that Canadians expect from VIA Rail in such an important public procurement."

 

Yves Desjardins-Siciliano

President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA Rail Canada

 

 

 

 

[TTC T6H-5307N 2252]

5 hours ago, Allandale25 said:

Shortlist of manufacturers has been released. Full detailshere.

 

 

I'm surprised CAF is not bidding 

[Articulated]

21 minutes ago, TTC T6H-5307N 2252 said:

I'm surprised CAF is not bidding 

This is the result of the Request For Qualifications (RFQ), where VIA shortlisted the qualified companies to proceed to the next step. It is not the list of everyone who made a bid for the order. CAF not being on this list could be two reasons: a) they did not send in a reply to the RFQ, or they were excluded from the shortlist by VIA for technical or other reasons.

[smallspy]

13 hours ago, Articulated said:

This is the result of the Request For Qualifications (RFQ), where VIA shortlisted the qualified companies to proceed to the next step. It is not the list of everyone who made a bid for the order. CAF not being on this list could be two reasons: a) they did not send in a reply to the RFQ, or they were excluded from the shortlist by VIA for technical or other reasons.

Indeed, there were a number of names that were conspicuous by their absence from the shortlist. And to be honest, the inclusion of Stadler was a very big surprise to me.

 

Dan

[Charlie]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:18 AM, smallspy said:

Indeed, there were a number of names that were conspicuous by their absence from the shortlist. And to be honest, the inclusion of Stadler was a very big surprise to me.

 

Dan

I was quite surprised that Stadler made it into the next phase as well, but the company really seems to be doing some serious expansion in the North American market, with some contracts and a plant in the USA, as well as them supposedly providing new trains for the Ottawa OTrain Trillium Line in a few years time. I wonder if Stadler is bidding with a DMU set, or if they are going to possibly bring over one of their european diesel locomotives, and make their own deperate coaches.

-Charlie

 

[smallspy]

18 minutes ago, Charlie said:

I was quite surprised that Stadler made it into the next phase as well, but the company really seems to be doing some serious expansion in the North American market, with some contracts and a plant in the USA, as well as them supposedly providing new trains for the Ottawa OTrain Trillium Line in a few years time. I wonder if Stadler is bidding with a DMU set, or if they are going to possibly bring over one of their european diesel locomotives, and make their own deperate coaches.

-Charlie

Well the one strong point for Stadler is that they are very, very happy to build bespoke equipment for each specific order, rather than starting from a standard set of plans and trying to shoehorn everything in. I guess we shall see in December what will be offered.

 

Dan

[WMATAC40LF]

15 hours ago, Charlie said:

I was quite surprised that Stadler made it into the next phase as well, but the company really seems to be doing some serious expansion in the North American market, with some contracts and a plant in the USA, as well as them supposedly providing new trains for the Ottawa OTrain Trillium Line in a few years time. I wonder if Stadler is bidding with a DMU set, or if they are going to possibly bring over one of their european diesel locomotives, and make their own deperate coaches.

-Charlie

 

Stadler Valencia (which was originally a part of Alstom before it was bought by Vossloh) built the NJT PL42ACs and the body shells and trucks for the EMD F125, so they certainly have experience building FRA compliant locomotives. Stadler (as you mentioned) is expanding in North America, and in fact this year they are set to deliver their first FRA compliant passenger cars to the Rocky Mountaineer. So they could offer either traditional loco hauled trains or DMU sets.

It will be interesting to see what each of the bidders proposes, but I think Siemens may have the upper hand here. 

[Charlie]

6 hours ago, WMATAC40LF said:

Stadler Valencia (which was originally a part of Alstom before it was bought by Vossloh) built the NJT PL42ACs and the body shells and trucks for the EMD F125, so they certainly have experience building FRA compliant locomotives. Stadler (as you mentioned) is expanding in North America, and in fact this year they are set to deliver their first FRA compliant passenger cars to the Rocky Mountaineer. So they could offer either traditional loco hauled trains or DMU sets.

It will be interesting to see what each of the bidders proposes, but I think Siemens may have the upper hand here. 

I would definently agree that Siemens is more likely to get the contract. I am not really sure what VIA Rails opinion towards bombardier right now is, so I’m not really sure where they stand. Also, if Stadler made it to this stage then I guess we should not rule them out just yet.

As for the company Talgo, considering I had never heard of them and they only have 1 or 2 contracts in the USA, I do not really see anything going to happen with them.

Of course these are just assumptions, but that is what this board is kind of for, to speculate and what not and voice different point of views on different issues.

-Charlie

[smallspy]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

I would definently agree that Siemens is more likely to get the contract. I am not really sure what VIA Rails opinion towards bombardier right now is, so I’m not really sure where they stand. Also, if Stadler made it to this stage then I guess we should not rule them out just yet.

I am certainly not as confident about Siemens as you guys are, for a bunch of different reasons. To be honest, I see Bombardier as the front-runner right now solely by virtue of their being Canadian.

 

As for Stadler, again, they have proven time and time again that they have no problem building bespoke equipment if that's what is required. They aren't as big as Siemens or Bombardier, but by the same token can be seen as a good thing - they are willing to look outside the box in order to compete with the big guys.

 

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

As for the company Talgo, considering I had never heard of them and they only have 1 or 2 contracts in the USA, I do not really see anything going to happen with them.

Talgo has been around for years and years and years, and has made lots of FRA-compliant equipment. In fact, VIA was looking at leasing the two sets of equipment that were built for the still-born Wisconsin corridor service. VIA is very familiar with them, and it should be seen as no surprise that they have made the final cut.

 

Dan

[Shaun]

Is it a good idea to have fixed train sets? If one car has a problem the entire trainset needs to be taken out of service. 

Not to mention that regardless on demand, you need to run a full trainset, which prevents other cars to be used on busier routes.

But does the benefits of having a fix trainset outweigh the negative aspects of it?