(Ottawa) VIA Rail expects to cross a pivotal moment in the modernization of its fleet with the arrival of the 32 trains ordered from Siemens. These new cars come with several new features to improve passenger comfort, but journey times should not shorten in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.
Seats covered in leather, wider aisles, spaces reserved for working out of sight in business class, lifting platforms for people with disabilities: the state-owned company presented its first two-way train on Tuesday (a locomotive, four wagons and a pilot car) which will soon enter a testing phase.
Once in service – gradually from the fourth quarter of 2022 until 2025 – these trains will transform the “travel experience”, say VIA Rail representatives. However, restrictions limiting schedules, frequency and punctuality will remain.
“The length of the journey, yes, it is an important factor,” said the president and CEO of the Crown corporation, Cynthia Garneau, at a press conference at the Ottawa station, where the ‘event. “The one that relates to frequencies too. Given the current circumstances of the network on which we operate, we are limited. ”
VIA Rail’s new trains.
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PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Both inside and outside the train, Siemens has opted for an energy-efficient LED lighting system for VIA Rail trains.
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PHOTO CHARLES-ANTOINE GAGNON, THE LAW
To improve accessibility and passenger flow, seven inches (approximately 18 centimeters) have been added to the width of the aisles.
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PHOTO CHARLES-ANTOINE GAGNON, THE LAW
All car seats are covered in leather and were designed for VIA Rail. The chainrings are adjustable, which is not the case in current cars.
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The Quebec City-Windsor section represented 96% of VIA Rail’s ridership in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter currently only owns 3% of the rail tracks on which its trains pass. It therefore does not have priority over freight trains.
Thus, the duration of a trip between Montreal and Ottawa should continue to oscillate around two hours, while it will still take about five hours from the metropolis to Toronto. The new trains can travel up to nearly 200 km / h, but they will not achieve this speed on current tracks.
A necessary change
But the majority of the park that circulates in the Quebec-Windsor corridor was built in the 1980s and is nearing the end of its life. This aspect should not be neglected, according to Mme Garneau, at the helm since May 2019. She believes that a train facelift will boost ridership.
PHOTO CHARLES-ANTOINE GAGNON, THE LAW
Cynthia Garneau, President and CEO of VIA Rail, presented the first of 32 trains to be delivered by Siemens.
“Within five years [avant] 2019, what the team had managed to do was increase ridership by 32% with the trains we know today, said Mr.me Garneau. So if we are able to improve the experience [des] passengers, […] we firmly believe that this is something that will help us to continue, […] once the pandemic is behind us, that growth. ”
In 2019, ridership had grown by 5.5% between Quebec City and Windsor, according to the annual report of VIA Rail, which globally carried more than 5 million passengers.
According to Mme Garneau, the issue of the number of trips will ultimately be resolved by the high-frequency train project, which will have its network of reserved lanes, announced last summer by the Trudeau government.
Preliminary stage
Siemens had topped Bombardier in 2018 by winning the roughly $ 1 billion contract for 32 trains – built in Sacramento, Calif. – which comes with options for 16 trainsets, which would boost the value of the deal by about half a billion dollars.
Already sporting VIA Rail’s colors (gray and yellow), this first train is not yet ready to welcome passengers. The interior is not quite finished due to testing, which will test the cars in winter conditions.
The tests will take place between the Coteau station, located in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and Ottawa, during the night. Why did the Crown corporation choose this section for its testing?
“It’s because these tracks belong to VIA Rail,” said its chief commercial officer, Martin Landry.
Trains will return to the maintenance center located in Montreal over the weekend.
During a technical briefing, VIA Rail representatives argued that this fleet, which is more uniform compared to the current fleet, would be less expensive to operate. However, they were not able to quantify the potential savings.
These bidirectional trains will consume less fuel than those currently running since they will be able to run with a single locomotive. Currently, they are found at the ends of trains. In addition, the energy generated during the braking phases will be used in particular to supply the air conditioning system and other electrical systems.
Supplied with fuel, these trainsets could easily be converted if the Quebec-Windsor section were to be electrified. The trains were built in such a way that they could accommodate the necessary equipment.
9000
The 32 new trains represent around 9,000 seats, i.e. around 2,800 in business class and 6,200 in economy class.
If VIA Rail is touting the high frequency train (TGF) project between Quebec City and Windsor, it is because it will allow it both to increase ridership and to offer the service “to as many communities as possible”, believes its President and CEO, Cynthia Garneau. A document from the Joint Project Office – partly under the responsibility of the Crown corporation – obtained by Press and dated April revealed that the corridor between Montreal and Toronto was the most suitable for the operation of a high speed train. “These are the criteria (ridership and communities served) that we have put forward and this is what continues to motivate us in this project,” replied Mr.me Garneau, when questioned. The TGF could cost up to 12 billion.