VIA Rail

[robmausser]

CAD has won a certain amount of passenger car refurb work.

Is there a source confirming that it's the HEP I cars getting the refurb? And, is it the whole fleet of those? As a reminder, the HEP I fleet consists of 25 remaining ex-CP Budd built coaches, plus 17 cars obtained second hand (or more) from US roads. The Canadian uses a small number of these (only a couple per trainset) and they are used to Prince Rupert, Churchill, northern Quebec, and to Halifax when the Ocean is non-Ren equipped. Some are regularly seen in corridor service.

As opposed to HEP II cars - a different bunch of older ex-US cars?

- Paul

EDIT: Answered my own question. Press Release on the VIA web site says 17 cars to be refurbished. So, far from a fleet extension, just compliance with the recent court decisions. Hmmm... 17 cars matches the number of non-CP HEP I coaches, which actually are more often seen on the Canadian than the ex-CP cars these days.

Werent some of the HEP 1's already refurbished?

So I am assuming this is the rest of them.

 

[smallspy]

Werent some of the HEP 1's already refurbished?

So I am assuming this is the rest of them.

The Park Cars, Manor Sleepers, and some of the diners and skylines received internal refurbishments several years ago. And there is an internal notice that VIA has received funding to refurbish much of the rest of the HEP1 fleet.

This seems to be above and beyond that, however.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[felix123]

so basically the libs bailed out bbr again by giving them some work to do after they failed to secure the bid......

These railcars are being refurbished, so the market is not as open as it would be if VIA were scrapping the HEP1s and issuing an RFQ/RFP to replace them. I don't expect you'd find it more efficient to send the railcars to France for Alstom to work on them, and BBD's La Pocatière operations have a decent track record, unlike their Mexico-Thunder Bay joint operation.

 

[SamStar]

The Park Cars, Manor Sleepers, and some of the diners and skylines received internal refurbishments several years ago. And there is an internal notice that VIA has received funding to refurbish much of the rest of the HEP1 fleet.

This seems to be above and beyond that, however.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Some Châteaux and Park Cars were refurbished nicely to the Prestige Class and delivered back in 2014.
Amazing work !

 

[smallspy]

I don't expect you'd find it more efficient to send the railcars to France for Alstom to work on them, and BBD's La Pocatière operations have a decent track record, unlike their Mexico-Thunder Bay joint operation.

Why would you send the cars to France if you were to award the contact to Alstom? They have facilities in North America. For that matter, so do Siemens and Kawasaki, to name but two other foreign builders.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[Fritter]

Why would you send the cars to France if you were to award the contact to Alstom?

The railcars just need some time backpacking in Europe to find themselves.

 

[lenaitch]

Bit of a pincer move on the need for HEP1s with the Canada Transportation Agency on one hand demanding double tie downs, and the seemingly failing Rens on the other. I'd love to have a good go at the political motivations for La Pocatiere to get the work, but with IRSI closed and (I think?) ONTC no longer in the refurb business who else could have done it? Do I vaguely remember some outfit in Hamilton did some LRC work after IRSI came crashing down?

ONTC is still very much in the refurb business. Last I heard they were doing work for Rocky Mountaineer, Metrolinx along with their own stock.

 

[micheal_can]

ONTC is still very much in the refurb business. Last I heard they were doing work for Rocky Mountaineer, Metrolinx along with their own stock.

.... and RTM....

 

[smallspy]

The railcars just need some time backpacking in Europe to find themselves.

At 64 years of age, a better quip would have been to remark about their retirement.

ONTC is still very much in the refurb business. Last I heard they were doing work for Rocky Mountaineer, Metrolinx along with their own stock.

They most certainly are. They have not won many outside contracts beyond the two that you've mentionned. And considering that it's taken them 2 years to do the RMR contract, it's little wonder why there's been so few.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[micheal_can]

They most certainly are. They have not won many outside contracts beyond the two that you've mentionned. And considering that it's taken them 2 years to do the RMR contract, it's little wonder why there's been so few.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

That is due to the Wynne government curtailing the crown corporation so they can say it is unprofitable.

 

[felix123]

Why would you send the cars to France if you were to award the contact to Alstom? They have facilities in North America. For that matter, so do Siemens and Kawasaki, to name but two other foreign builders.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

According to the Alstom map, there doesn't seem to be a passenger car facility in North America, although I suppose La Pocatière was originally built for the Azur, so perhaps Alstom, as an example could do the same. Otherwise, the closest Alstom facility already specializing in stainless steel cars appears to be an Alstom facility in Brazil.

http://www.alstom.com/worldwide/

 

[cplchanb]

According to the Alstom map, there doesn't seem to be a passenger car facility in North America, although I suppose La Pocatière was originally built for the Azur, so perhaps Alstom, as an example could do the same. Otherwise, the closest Alstom facility already specializing in stainless steel cars appears to be an Alstom facility in Brazil.

http://www.alstom.com/worldwide/

what is the cost difference to just replacing this with new or preowned stock? These SS cars regardless of how good a shape the bodies are, are antiques and will become significantly more costly to maintain as the years progress.
they can maintain 1 set for historic purposes but really they should cut their losses and invest on new stock for the long term. band aid solutions are the worst and canada is just guilty for this

 

[crs1026]

At 64 years of age, a better quip would have been to remark about their retirement.

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Elderhostels are a thing, you know ;-)

- Paul

 

[felix123]

what is the cost difference to just replacing this with new or preowned stock? These SS cars regardless of how good a shape the bodies are, are antiques and will become significantly more costly to maintain as the years progress.
they can maintain 1 set for historic purposes but really they should cut their losses and invest on new stock for the long term. band aid solutions are the worst and canada is just guilty for this

I don't disagree with you. Canada underinvests in all types of public rail. One may argue that VIA is just now at the point of waiting on HFR funding to further solidify or even a surprise HSR announcement before they redistribute/sell/dispose of their current rolling stock, so they need to hold onto their existing cars until then and it's just poor timing, but that would be distracting from the issue that VIA has not had secure, predictable, long-term funding for decades.

 

[dowlingm]

ONTC is still very much in the refurb business. Last I heard they were doing work for Rocky Mountaineer, Metrolinx along with their own stock.

thanks - I know there was some muttering about closing it when the Liberals were swinging the axe in ONTC generally and they lost some GO Transit work but I guess they are hanging in there - which is good. I wonder where anyone will stick their hand up about La Pocatiere getting this work if it wasn't tendered.