VIA Rail

[crs1026]

We were almost at yes to a new LD fleet, closer than we are now ..... in the 1980's.

it's encouraging that this government is keeping the long distance idea alive, but it will be up to the next government to put in the miles towards procurement, or maybe not. Time will tell.

The more interesting commitment in the budget was the statement that VIA-HFR will be given a legislative mandate. Let's see how that turns out, and how VIA-HFR (note that the term was always used with an F, and never with an S) is positioned relative to freight railways.

- Paul

 

[Urban Sky]

We were almost at yes to a new LD fleet, closer than we are now ..... in the 1980's.

it's encouraging that this government is keeping the long distance idea alive, but it will be up to the next government to put in the miles towards procurement, or maybe not. Time will tell.

As you pointed out yourself recently, VIA‘s long-distance operations scatter well-paid jobs across almost the entire country. I therefore believe that the optics of axing the fleet renewal and thus starving non-Corridor VIA services to death would be much worde for the conservatives (the self-declared crusaders against „Western neglect“) than for the liberals, which are widely seen as having absndoned Western Canada. I don‘t expect any service improvements with the Conservatives, but I believe the non-corridor routes are safe once the contracts are signed and they will somehow manage to claim the credit for investing in them…

 

[Allandale25]

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Charger/Venture number 14 is Canada-bound.

 

[Urban Sky]

View attachment 557072

The value of points is measured in how much ticket fare a single point covers. Comparisons like this are meaningless if we don‘t know what the corresponding cash values were. That said, the point value has indeed decreased by 4.3 cents (or 23%) for Economy travel in the Corridor, as reported by Tom Box on Groups.io:

Re: Dollar value of VIA Preference points

groups.io

 

[crs1026]

As you pointed out yourself recently, VIA‘s long-distance operations scatter well-paid jobs across almost the entire country. I therefore believe that the optics of axing the fleet renewal and thus starving non-Corridor VIA services to death would be much worde for the conservatives (the self-declared crusaders against „Western neglect“) than for the liberals, which are widely seen as having absndoned Western Canada. I don‘t expect any service improvements with the Conservatives, but I believe the non-corridor routes are safe once the contracts are signed and they will somehow manage to claim the credit for investing in them…

Intellectually I agree with you, but nobody said politics is rational. If there were some other bauble that Western Canada was offered, on a "can't have both" platform (as Pepin did with LRC vs the Canadian route, and Mulroney did with Silver/Blue vs daily service at traditional pricing... and for that matter Smallwood did with the Newfie Bullet vs TCH).... anything might be acceptable.

The budget had a whole section outlining the support that Ottawa is advancing towards the Maritimes. Rail or bus transportation wasn't mentioned. Airports did better. That omission struck my eye.

- Paul

 

[Urban Sky]

Intellectually I agree with you, but nobody said politics is rational. If there were some other bauble that Western Canada was offered, on a "can't have both" platform (as Pepin did with LRC vs the Canadian route, and Mulroney did with Silver/Blue vs daily service at traditional pricing... and for that matter Smallwood did with the Newfie Bullet vs TCH).... anything might be acceptable.

Correct, but that‘s more applicable for discontinuing a service rather than cancelling an investment which has already been announced and funded.

The budget had a whole section outlining the support that Ottawa is advancing towards the Maritimes. Rail or bus transportation wasn't mentioned. Airports did better. That omission struck my eye.

- Paul

That‘s indeed a striking omission, as comparatively small amounts of operating funding into bus services could really improve intercity connectivity dramatically…

 

[AMilllsy]

well if theyre negotiating now, perhaps a contract award by years end and then 2 to 3 years for the first trainset to arrive. perhaps the initial operations by end of 2027/8

It sounds as if they were just about ready to launch the procurement last budget cycle so they're likely raring to go seeing as they still have the team together. I don't think the delay on this one will be the actual procurement but the capacity in North America (unless someone other than Siemens steps in) to manufacture passenger rail cars, so 27/28 is VERY optimistic. Though I'm sure there will be a good deal of public consultation concurrent with an RFQ phase for what people would like to see in a modern long-distance train. Helpfully, Amtrak has done a lot of work on this so there is a really good jumping off point. We'll very much likely end up with whatever Amtrak decides with some modifications a la the Corridor fleet, but that also means we will be behind them in the manufacturing queue.

 

[Urban Sky]

We'll very much likely end up with whatever Amtrak decides with some modifications a la the Corridor fleet, but that also means we will be behind them in the manufacturing queue.

And let‘s keep in mind that they are only expecting deliveries to start in the early 2030s, so 2027/28 seems indeed unrealistic at this point…

 

[Bordercollie]

It sounds as if they were just about ready to launch the procurement last budget cycle so they're likely raring to go seeing as they still have the team together. I don't think the delay on this one will be the actual procurement but the capacity in North America (unless someone other than Siemens steps in) to manufacture passenger rail cars, so 27/28 is VERY optimistic. Though I'm sure there will be a good deal of public consultation concurrent with an RFQ phase for what people would like to see in a modern long-distance train. Helpfully, Amtrak has done a lot of work on this so there is a really good jumping off point. We'll very much likely end up with whatever Amtrak decides with some modifications a la the Corridor fleet, but that also means we will be behind them in the manufacturing queue.

They could have everything "ready" in the background and we're just waiting for the formal announcement.

 

[kEiThZ]

They could have everything "ready" in the background and we're just waiting for the formal announcement.

Very much doubt that. We'd have heard more about a project team. But even there's some hidden project team somewhere, the RFI-RFQ-RFP-Contract Award timeline will take 12-18 months at least.

 

[Urban Sky]

Very much doubt that. We'd have heard more about a project team. But even there's some hidden project team somewhere, the RFI-RFQ-RFP-Contract Award timeline will take 12-18 months at least.

It took 9.5 months from funding announcement for VIA’s new corridor fleet to the contract signed with Siemens, but I agree that this procurement is much more complex…

 

[Dan416]

I would guess the main thing is that VIA is such a small player, and if Amtrak is ordering basically the same thing soon, then it makes sense for them to piggyback off Amtrak’s larger order, even if it means we get ours later.

 

[Bordercollie]

I would guess the main thing is that VIA is such a small player, and if Amtrak is ordering basically the same thing soon, then it makes sense for them to piggyback off Amtrak’s larger order, even if it means we get ours later.

In terms of the venture sets they are building them in tandem. And it also means they ironed out the bugs before we get them. Would be nice to have panoramic windows or domes.

Meanwhile Japan is building a 500km maglev train...55 billon dollars.

 

[kEiThZ]

I would guess the main thing is that VIA is such a small player, and if Amtrak is ordering basically the same thing soon, then it makes sense for them to piggyback off Amtrak’s larger order, even if it means we get ours later.

Our contracting framework doesn't allow automatic sole source without direct political intervention. And good luck with that.