VIA Rail Canada Siemens trainsets

VIA Rail Canada's Siemens Trainsets are 32 bidirectional locomotive-hauled corridor trainsets currently being built by Siemens Mobility. The base trainsets will consist of a Siemens SC-44 locomotive and five Venture coaches; two business class cars, two economy class cars, and an economy class cab car. The trainsets can be reconfigured to between 3 and 7 cars long.

History

Order

In their 2018 budget, the federal Liberals allocated funding for the replacement of VIA Rail's rolling stock currently used in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor. On April 16, 2018, VIA Rail issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to manufacturers interested in supplying the railroad with new rolling stock. VIA Rail was interested in 32 bi-directional trainsets with enhanced accessibility features, a combined total of 9,100 passenger seats, and more fuel-efficient Tier 4 diesel engines.

In June 2018, VIA Rail announced the names of the shortlisted manufacturers that would participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Qualified companies had until October 5, 2018 to submit a proposal. These companies were: Bombardier Transportation Canada, Siemens Canada, Stadler US, and Talgo.

On December 12, 2018, VIA Rail announced that Siemens Canada was awarded a $989 million contract to build the 32 trainsets that will replace the existing fleet used in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor. The new trains are expected to go into service in 2022.

In the second half of 2019, Siemens sent a coach that they were building for Caltrans and the Illinois Department of Transportation to the National Research Council for cold weather testing.

Locomotive Features

On May 28, 2021, Via Rail unveiled the finalized exterior design of the new trainsets. Photos of the first locomotive at the Siemens manufacturing facility were also released. The exterior design differs slightly from the original renders.

VIA Rail's Siemens Charger locomotives are of the SC-42 specification (they were built as SC-44 units, and were unveiled as such, but were derated and redesignated before delivery), but have additional features to better comply with regulations within VIA's service area. Compared to Charger locomotives operating elsewhere, VIA's locomotives feature larger, more pronounced snowplow-pilots, a high-intensity discharge beam below the main headlights, and additional winterization to better cope with winter weather. In addition, VIA's units sport a streamlined, bolt-on nosecone instead of the blunt nose sections typically found on SC-44 locomotives. They are painted mainly in dark gray, with gray, black, and yellow elements following the units' streamlined profiles. They also feature large yellow 'VIA' logos on their midsections, and large red maple leaves on their rear sections.

The first two SC-42 locomotives, units 2200 and 2201, along with the first full set of Siemens Venture coaches, were delivered to VIA's Montreal Maintenance Centre on September 29, 2021.

Coach Features

As with the LRC equipment they will be replacing, the Siemens Venture coach and business class cars will be configured with 50-50 seating, with 2+1 abreast seats in business class and 2+2 seating in economy class. Some of the new features of the Venture equipment include wider aisles, additional enhanced wheelchair spaces, enhanced Wi-Fi, and flexible luggage compartments that integrate bike racks (thus allowing bikes to be brought aboard as carry-on baggage). As shown in renderings, business class cars will feature two- and four-seat semi-private compartments at one end of the car for added privacy. The cab ends of the cab cars will be identical to the cab sections of the locomotives. Coaches will be painted mainly light gray, with black trim around the windows and yellow stripes above the windows.