NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Announced in yesterday's (Feb 27) Federal Budget
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/fleet-renewal
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/fleet-renewal
32 trainsets with 9100 total seats. (Any idea how that compares to what is used currently?)Announced in yesterday's (Feb 27) Federal Budget
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/fleet-renewal
So that's not just been my bad luck with two of the worst Hiawatha delays/disruptions in my 20+ years of riding those trains occurring this winter.I wonder if the Siemens Charger has any shot of winning this order for locomotives, given that it has had relatively abysmal performance in the midwest this past winter.
Although the train I was on traveled fine with SC-44s, I did see another train with a BNSF unit ahead of the SC-44 because apparently the horn on the SC-44 had failed thus making it illegal as a lead unit.So that's not just been my bad luck with two of the worst Hiawatha delays/disruptions in my 20+ years of riding those trains occurring this winter.I wonder if the Siemens Charger has any shot of winning this order for locomotives, given that it has had relatively abysmal performance in the midwest this past winter.
That's first I'm hearing about a lot of problems with the Chargers. What's been happening with them?I wonder if the Siemens Charger has any shot of winning this order for locomotives, given that it has had relatively abysmal performance in the midwest this past winter.
Yes....hopefully the cars with the blue and yellow stripe will be the ones replaced. These were rebuilt in the early 90 in the HEP II programme. A lot are former Amtrak cars.....the interiors are nice (see below) but are very rough riding.I'm assuming its these cars that are being replaced? Not the LRC?
From an old Transport 2000 Newsletter: Perhaps we'll see any surplus LRC coaches deployed to routes they were originally envisioned for 40 years ago!I think the LRC will be around for years to come and along with the new equipment.increased service!
I thought the LRC cars were the problem children, as they were made of a carbon steel or something?Yes....hopefully the cars with the blue and yellow stripe will be the ones replaced. These were rebuilt in the early 90 in the HEP II programme. A lot are former Amtrak cars.....the interiors are nice (see below) but are very rough riding.I'm assuming its these cars that are being replaced? Not the LRC?
The car with the solid blue strip is a HEP 1 long distance coach rebuilt in the late 80s or early 90s. It is xCPR Canadian equipment. Dont think they are going away anytime soon.
I think the LRC will be around for years to come and along with the new equipment.increased service!
I dont remember the specifics, because I was only half paying attention when a Chicago ops manager told me, but they have had a lot of trouble with the HEP on those engines this winter.There was some issues with the scrubbers, although I think the problems with them were blown a bit out of proportion by Charger-haters. They don't yet have the Michigan PTC system installed/turned on. Been a few accidents (no fault to the Chargers), and a horn not working on one run of one. That's all I can remember off the top of my head, no where near as bad as the HHP-8s when they were delivered.
I've not heard of any problems with the Brightline ones, nor the ones on the west coast.
peter
I'm assuming its these cars that are being replaced? Not the LRC?
Yes....hopefully the cars with the blue and yellow stripe will be the ones replaced. These were rebuilt in the early 90 in the HEP II programme. A lot are former Amtrak cars.....the interiors are nice (see below) but are very rough riding.
The car with the solid blue strip is a HEP 1 long distance coach rebuilt in the late 80s or early 90s. It is xCPR Canadian equipment. Dont think they are going away anytime soon.
I think the LRC will be around for years to come and along with the new equipment.increased service!
Here's the interesting thing. The press materials released at the time of the announcement (including this web page on viarail.ca specifically state (with my emphasis):It would seem bizarre to replace the LRCs but not the HEPs. Any chance that the new stock will work the LRC routes and the LRCs will then displace the HEPs?
The LRC entered service 1981-84, so it's clear that the fleet renewal announcement refers to them. If the HEP2 cars were being replaced, surely VIA Rail would want to celebrate the retirement of carriages that are almost seventy years old? This could mean a couple of things. One: they're perhaps embarrassed about the age of the HEP2, and will quietly retire them anyway without reminding customers of their age. Two: they'll be retained for new or additional services outside the Corridor when new rolling stock would be too expensive. Three: they'll have another heavy rebuilt (as happened before entry into Corridor service in the 1990s) and join the HEP1 fleet on long distance services.Our current fleet, reaching the end of its useful life, has served us well over the past 35 years, but it is now time to modernize ensuring safer, faster, more frequent, more accessible and an environmentally-friendly service.
The request for tenders goes live very soon, so it's up to the different companies and consortia who bid to present their own designs.Be nice to see the design of the new cars.
There is still an ambition to, hence the request for proposals for push-pull units with locomotives ready for future electrification, suggesting bi-mode diesel-electrics.Were there still plans to electrify the corridor too?
It's hard to find anyone that's actually satisfied with Bombardier's work as of late.This one is probably Bombardier's to lose. Having said that, they did just lose the bid to build rolling stock for the Montréal REM (standout quote - "that you can't even get your own government... to buy your product, it's something that will cause them sales grief around the world for a while to come") and in 2016 they screwed up the specification and delivery schedule of double-deck vehicles for the Deux-Montagnes line. So don't underestimate Bombardier's ability to screw things up in their own backyard.
I second the Siemens prediction. They have an off-the-shelf product, are already building cars that can run at speeds up to 125mph and they've built equipment for Western Canada properties (Edmonton and Calgary). VIA might give the contract to Siemens based on delivery times, etc. I feel that the Siemens single-level car might be the standard North American intercity railcar for the next few decades.Yeah, Bombardier's demonstrated incompetence means they are very, very, very unlikely to win any order. Toronto rather loudly cancelled forthcoming procurements from Bombardier, leaving only the one delayed streetcar order (with all the options cancelled, IIRC) and is trying to get compensation from Bombardier for the delays on that. Bombardier has gone from the leader in passenger rail cars to a company which nobody will buy from -- a true management failure.
I'd bet on Siemens, FWIW. They may offer to put a factory in Canada.
VIA is clearly replacing the entire LRC fleet, which was always the problem fleet. I suspect they're replacing the HEP 2 cars on the Corridor as well, but I also suspect the HEP 2 cars will end up being shuffled off to join the HEP 1 fleet: since nobody's making new parts for those old Budd cars, anything they can do to shore up the fleet will help them keep it operating.
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