VIA Rail Canada

[webfil]

12 hours ago, Shaun said:

Another contract is awarded to CAD to refurbish HEP cars used in the Canadian. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/via-rail-awards-46-million-contract-to-cad-railway-industries-for-renovation-of-25-train-cars-679294533.html

 

Why break it up between Bombardier and CAD? 

The refurbishment program is broken between MMC (33), CAD (25) Bombardier (17). VIA needs good cars — fast.

[dowlingm]

14 hours ago, Shaun said:

Another contract is awarded to CAD to refurbish HEP cars used in the Canadian. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/via-rail-awards-46-million-contract-to-cad-railway-industries-for-renovation-of-25-train-cars-679294533.html

 

Why break it up between Bombardier and CAD? 

Combination of move the contract along faster and deliver announcements for three (per webfil's post) sets of Liberal MPs/MNAs? 

1 hour ago, webfil said:

The refurbishment program is broken between MMC (33), CAD (25) Bombardier (17). VIA needs good cars — fast.

Which 33 are MMC doing?

[webfil]

3 hours ago, dowlingm said:

Combination of move the contract along faster and deliver announcements for three (per webfil's post) sets of Liberal MPs/MNAs? 

Which 33 are MMC doing?

That's a good question. It was in the press release from Desjardins-Siciliano and reported by La Presse without much details. 75 cars is a fair share of VIA's fleet.

[smallspy]

The 33 cars are the HEP2 cars. They are updating the interiors to match that of the LRC cars.

Dan

[Shaun]

So will they be doing 6 at a time? 2 at each facility? 

Otherwise with summer coming I don't think they will have that many spares. 

Are there some cars in storage that could be done first? 

Replacing the seats of the HEP II cars are long overdue. 

Will they overhaul the truck Assembly's? Some of them ride quite rough at high speed. 

[M. Parsons]

I didn't realize the Canada 150 livery had been changed to the 40th Anniversary version. So, this was a pleasant surprise when I went out looking for a 7 hour late VIA #1 through Edmonton. 

[Shaun]

I'm surprised they are fixing the HEP II cars considering how many times they said that they are past their life expectancy, and that it's not worth fixing. 

[dbdb]

Maybe I'm a bit cynical but I suspect some of that decision is some pork barrel politics throwing economic benefit to areas of Quebec where the Liberals may want to earn some votes in the next federal election.  If they get started now they will be able to unveil the refurbished cars just ahead of the next election.

If they bought new as they are to replace the LRC cars via the RFP route, it's likely the winning bid would be from a U.S. or other foreign company with little if any of the work coming to Canada.

[smallspy]

15 hours ago, Shaun said:

I'm surprised they are fixing the HEP II cars considering how many times they said that they are past their life expectancy, and that it's not worth fixing. 

Who said that they are "fixing" them? All they are doing is changing the interiors to match the LRCs.

 

Dan

[LRC3]

The interior upgrades of the 33 hep2 cars is a smart move for product consistency. The coaches got some work done in the last decade but the VIA1 cars were getting extremely long in the tooth and this investment is well deserved since the replacement fleet isn't even ordered yet. I look forward to the results! 

[skyfirenet]

On 4/15/2018 at 8:09 PM, Shaun said:

I'm surprised they are fixing the HEP II cars considering how many times they said that they are past their life expectancy, and that it's not worth fixing. 

On the other hand, if you believe that the corridor fleet replacement order is going to be another Bombardier make work project and you've been following the TTC streetcar delivery saga...

[Doppelkupplung]

22 minutes ago, skyfirenet said:

On the other hand, if you believe that the corridor fleet replacement order is going to be another Bombardier make work project and you've been following the TTC streetcar delivery saga...

I think the TTC case is an isolated one. BBD delivered all of GOs BiLevel S6 cab cars, and there weren't any complaints of delays. Same with new coaches. Granted, the design is an old one, but they still delivered on time. 

[smallspy]

1 minute ago, Doppelkupplung said:

I think the TTC case is an isolated one. BBD delivered all of GOs BiLevel 6 cab cars, and there weren't any complaints of delays. Same with new coaches. Granted, the design is an old one, but they still delivered on time. 

The CEM BiLevel is a completely different beast than the ones preceding it. Quite literally the only common items are the side windows, couplers and MU/Comm/HEP plugs. All else is different.

 

Dan

[Doppelkupplung]

4 minutes ago, smallspy said:

The CEM BiLevel is a completely different beast than the ones preceding it. Quite literally the only common items are the side windows, couplers and MU/Comm/HEP plugs. All else is different.

Thanks, didn't realize that. 

I guess that also helps my point just that little bit more, since its a new design for BBD to manufacture. 

[Shaun]

Would updated Acela type cars be an option? But they are not pushpull compatible unless they design one with a cab. Or multilevel cars? 

[skyfirenet]

3 minutes ago, Shaun said:

Would updated Acela type cars be an option?

So Mark 3 LRC cars?

[dowlingm]

2 hours ago, Shaun said:

Would updated Acela type cars be an option? But they are not pushpull compatible unless they design one with a cab. Or multilevel cars? 

The RFI didn't exclude MLVs but I doubt they want them any more than Amtrak did. I think by the time you reduced the weight of Acela down to Tier 1 requirement you have a new train already (and what kind of power car?). The Acela coupler height is neither here nor there at that level of redesign, but then is it "proven in service or made up of proven elements"?

[smallspy]

3 hours ago, skyfirenet said:

So Mark 3 LRC cars?

The Acela and LRC cars are completely and totally different animals, and other than the fact that they both tilt and were built by Bombardier are not remotely related.

 

Dan

[skyfirenet]

4 hours ago, smallspy said:

The Acela and LRC cars are completely and totally different animals, and other than the fact that they both tilt and were built by Bombardier are not remotely related.

 

Dan

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

[Allandale25]

Update on the Churchill situation: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/first-...urchill-rail-line-deal-in-the-works-1.3914706

"The news release issued by the First Nations and iChurchill Thursday night does not mention Omnitrax by name."

[Benton Harper]

Sounds like I'll be able to get the train/polar bear item off my bucket list

[TTC T6H-5307N 2252]

Could VIA Rail take Metrolink F59PHs when they are retired? 

[Shaun]

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. 

[WMATAC40LF]

4 hours ago, TTC T6H-5307N 2252 said:

Could VIA Rail take Metrolink F59PHs when they are retired? 

Why would they want or need them? The F40s are in good condition, having been rehabbed fairly recently. The new corridor trainset order will provide brand new Tier 4 locomotives. This will certainly replace the P42s, and should also displace the F40s currently used on the corridor. The CAD overhaul was supposed to extend the lifespans of the F40s by 15 to 20 years, so they probably won't need to be replaced until the mid to late 2020s.

Also, the Metrolink F59PHs and PHIs that will be retired when the F125 lemons start working properly (if that ever does happen) are worn down and probably in need of a major overhaul that would cost a buyer quite a bit. 

2 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. 

Re-gearing those engines for higher speeds and/or modifying the HEP system could be done if necessary. But yes I agree, they shouldn't be buying used stuff they don't need right now.

[Transit geek]

14 hours ago, TTC T6H-5307N 2252 said:

Could VIA Rail take Metrolink F59PHs when they are retired? 

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.