The Government of Canada and VIA Rail announced today a $20 million program to renew and improve two key components of its nationwide locomotive and rolling stock fleet, funded from the $407 million investment in passenger rail improvements under the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce the overhaul of 78 cars and 21 locomotives for improved service across VIA Rail’s transcontinental network,” said the Honourable Rob Merrifield, Minister of State (Transport). “Combined with the other capital projects announced recently, it will give Canadians a more efficient, reliable and comfortable passenger rail network”.

“Equally satisfying for all of us at VIA is the fact that this program will create and maintain skilled employment, contributing to the government’s strategy of employment and economic stimulus”, said VIA Chief Operating Officer, John Marginson. “This initiative is creating 58 positions at VIA’s Montreal Maintenance Centre (MMC): 51 positions for the HEP 1 project and seven positions for the P-42 locomotives. When coupled with our other fleet renewal programs, it adds up to the largest investment ever in Canadian passenger rail equipment”, added Marginson.

This project includes the renovation and upgrade of 78 HEP 1 long-haul cars of various types and of 21 P-42 diesel-electric locomotives. The HEP 1 stainless steel cars are primarily assigned to VIA’s world-renowned Toronto-Vancouver streamliner, the Canadian, which is an important contributor to Canada’s tourism industry. The P-42 locomotives haul VIA’s fastest trains in the busy Quebec-Windsor Corridor.

The first of the 78 HEP 1 stainless steel cars to be overhauled will be 40 Manor sleeping cars, followed by the dining cars, Skyline dome-buffet-lounge cars and other car types within the fleet. The overhaul will include new and brighter interior carpeting, wall designs and upholstery. Mechanical work will include the renewal of the electrical, drinkable water, heating/ventilating/air conditioning and underframe systems. This overhaul of VIA’s long-distance trains will proceed at the rate of seven cars per month. The first cars are scheduled for completion this fall.

The P-42 program includes work on the underframe systems, main diesel engine, alternator and generator. As well, there will be minor structural repairs and touch-ups of the car body, along with winterization programs. This will prepare the P-42s for another 1.6 million kilometers or eight years of reliable service.

About VIA’s fleet renewal program

These programs fleet renewal programs are part of an unprecedented investment by the Government of Canada in the improvement and expansion of passenger rail service across the country. It is being funded under a $516 million passenger rail capital improvement program announced in October 2007 and another $407 million investment under the Economic Action Plan.

About VIA Rail Canada

As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada’s mandate is to provide efficient, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective passenger transportation, both in Canada’s business corridor and in remote and rural regions of the country. Every week, VIA operates 503 intercity, transcontinental and regional trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network.

For further information: Malcolm Andrews, Via Rail Canada Inc., (514) 871-6604; Chris Hilton, Office of Minister of State (transport), (613) 991-0700

..

Canada By Train: The Complete VIA Rail Travel Guide

…

Senior government officials say that rail commuters can expect some quicker trips in Central Canada and renovated stations across the country because of a multimillion-dollar injection of new cash for VIA Rail outlined in the last federal budget.

But nearly a month after the Harper government announced the $407 million in new funding, the crown corporation in charge of passenger rail service in Canada has not been able to announce a comprehensive outline of how the money will be spent.

“I don’t have the plan right now to show to people,” said VIA Rail spokesperson Nadia Seraiocco in an interview. “In the next few weeks, our president will talk to us, probably about . . . highlights of the plan so that journalists can have a better idea, and the general population, of what’s going on in terms of the investment.”

Source Link: Canada.com

Source Link: Windsor Star

Tuesday’s federal budget acknowledged the importance of pumping money into Via Rail to make passenger service more comfortable and reliable in Ontario and Quebec.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised an additional $407 million in cash to upgrade infrastructure and make the necessary capital improvements.

But he fell woefully short of making the long-term investment in high-speed rail that would put Windsor in the loop, and that’s unfortunate. It has long been accepted that the only logical way to improve rail travel is to create a seamless high-speed route in the corridor from Essex County to Quebec City. Instead, he chose to focus on creating a “triple-track” system between Montreal and Toronto.

Flaherty boasted it would provide for two additional express trains between those two cities and reduce the trip times, “thereby making it possible to travel between these major metropolitan centres in approximately four hours.

“Trip times between Ottawa and Toronto,” he said, “will also be reduced by up to 30 minutes.”

That’s all well and good for those “metropolitan” travellers, but it won’t help those people living in the rest of southwestern Ontario. Nowhere is that oversight more obvious than in Windsor, which sees throngs of travellers from Michigan and Ohio flock to its antiquated station each year.

Those people are eager to explore the sights and sounds along the rail route, often stopping in Stratford and London on their way to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. They bring with them plenty of cash and a willingness to spend it.

Ironically, Flaherty acknowledged Windsor as one of Via’s “key” stations, right up there with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. That tells us someone in the non-partisan rail caucus knows full well how important this area is to creating a quick and efficient rail corridor. There’s no question it should have been included in the project to link together major centres.

And while he did say there would be funds to “modernize” our station, Flaherty did not specify what we could expect. We trust it will be a traveller friendly new one to replace what’s become a tired old eyesore.

Along with this, the government must rethink its infrastructure plan so that it includes high-speed rail — which has been endorsed by the Ontario and Quebec governments. Any modernization project should include upgrading the rail line now, not later.

Source Link: By Chris Vander Doelen, Windsor Star

Windsor will get a new or at least upgraded Via Rail station out of the new budget.

Essex MP Jeff Watson said he had not heard how much money will be available for the Windsor project but $407 million in cash has been set aside in Budget 2009 for “infrastructure and other capital improvements.”

The big ticket item in the rail budget items will be building a third track to fix bottlenecks in passenger train travel between Toronto and Montreal.

The “triple-tracking” at key locations is expected to cut 30 minutes off the trip and permit the addition of two express trains per day on the congested corridor, the federal government says.

The rest of the funding will be used “to modernize Via Rail Canada’s fleet of locomotives and passenger cars, and to upgrade key stations in Windsor, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Hamilton, and Belleville,” according to the budget.

Watson said he did not know how the money would be allocated between the locations.

Budget 2009 also sets aside an additional $28 million over five years for Ottawa’s rail Grade Crossing Improvement Program, aimed at “improving safety at public grade crossings across Canada.”

cvanderdoelen@thestar.canwest.com, or 519-255-6852.

Source Link: The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — Transportation experts don’t believe the federal government’s small budgetary nod to public transit will help Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) offset a forecast slide in its aerospace business.

Transit will compete with roads and other priorities for the $4 billion earmarked for infrastructure upgrades and only a portion of the spending is expected to be directed at the purchase of train cars.

Another $407 million provided to Via Rail will upgrade tracks and several train stations.

Neither allocation will help the Montreal-based company weather the global economic storm, analysts said Friday.

With 75 per cent of its rail revenues coming from Europe and its headquarters based in Berlin, Bombardier Transportation is looking to harness stimulative efforts in Europe and emerging countries outside North America.

“Canada is almost inconsequential for them,” said Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners.

Doerksen said there wasn’t any expectation in the investment community that Bombardier would see significant benefits from the Canadian budget.

With a backlog at the end of the last quarter totalling $25.8 billion or 2.5 years, it’s unlikely that stimulative spending would have a major impact on the company anyway, he said in a report.

It would take several years for any contracts awarded today to begin to generate revenue for the company.

While new train orders are positive, the contribution from the business jet market is much more important to Bombardier’s overall profitability.

Business aircraft account for 27 per cent of total revenues compared to 50 per cent from transportation, but are believed to make up 44 per cent of operating earnings compared to only 35 per cent for transportation, Doerksen said.