Urban Sky
Senior Member
Agreed, but that doesn’t mean that it’s strategically sensible to distract the government with any non-Corridor fleet renewal proposals before they have made their final decision on HFR...
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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
roger1818
Senior Member
I saw that, but it is pretty vague, all it really says is, "it is no longer reasonable to expect an extended service life from the Budd manufactured rolling stock equipment."
Here it is, back at message #7230 in this thread
;Composite=(type=URL,url=https://images.radio-canada.ca/v1/assets/elements/16x9/outdated-content-2020.png),gravity=SouthEast,placement=Over,location=(0,0),scale=1)
Bombardier La Pocatière perd un contrat de 54 millions
Ce contrat devait fournir du travail à environ 80 employés de l'usine de La Pocatière.ici.radio-canada.ca
Thanks. That helped me find more articles, though it seems as though only the French media picked up on the story. I was sure I saw a report in English, but maybe I was mistaken (my French is poor unfortunately). Using Google Translate, this report says, "Unexpected technical problems due to the age and condition of some cars led to a reassessment of the work."
While I don't disagree, as @Urban Sky said, VIA doesn't want this to be a distraction from corridor upgrades. Also, the size of the non-corridor fleet is substantial (I estimate over 250 cars) and replacing it would not be cheap, especially with VIA saying they would need to grow the fleet to maintain desired service frequencies. I wouldn't be surprised if when VIA does propose to replace it, there is a reckoning, and the government makes the decision to cut service, to reduce the size of the order.
robmausser
Senior Member
We will never get a fleet replacement of the Canadian. The only thing that will ever happen to that will be its eventual selling off to someone like Rocky Mountaineer as a tourist train.
Replacing that money pit with a new fleet would be political suicide.
Darwinkgo
Active Member
Can bury a whole fleet replacement for the long distance trains into an efficiency package once CN and CP have decided a direction for net-zero performance. You can pay for a lot of equipment from operating funds when your alternative is $170 a tonne of GHG charges.
crs1026
Superstar
I thought that was at least candid, and positions the discussion leaving no doubt should anyone in the bureaucracy or political arenas suggest that VIA just put its head in the sand and muddle on.
As noted, this is not the right timing for VIA to make a proposal. But it's worthwhile getting on record (and generally accepted) that a decision must be made before too long. No surprises.
I'm not optimistic that even a token order will ever happen. There may be political pressure to recognise other provinces' interests, but that doesn't imply that the long distance trains will be competitive for public appetite when the "next billion" is available. ROI on things like Edmonton-Calgary HFR will be raised in comparison.
The best we can hope for is for VIA to be allowed to put forward an honest business proposal, laying out costs and opportunities with objective data that is free of political fudging. And then let that debate go where it will. If HFR is built on time and on budget, and gets favourable reception, who knows what's next.
- Paul
trebello
New Member
I think it would be more politically challenging to cancel The Canadian than order new rolling stock. HFR and The Corridor in general are obviously where VIA needs to focus on expansion, but I think cancelling The Canadian because the government didn't want to replace the rolling stock would open a whole can of worms politically. Hopefully they can keep going with the Budd equipment long enough that they're able to get the investment in HFR going without any drama regarding expanding service in Quebec and Ontario while possibly discontinuing it in the west. I think the subtle deal with rail service in this country is VIA maintains a skeletal service from coast to coast and people don't complain (too much) that most of the service is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec (where it makes the most economic sense).
Allandale25
Senior Member
Jordan Schoening🦒 on Instagram: "Via Rail SCB-40 2200 and BLF (Brightline) SCB-40 111 rest outside awaiting completion in Florin, California. Taken January 23rd, 2021. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 📸Nikon D3500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #pocket
467 likes, 37 comments - placerrailphotography on January 26, 2021: "Via Rail SCB-40 2200 and BLF (Brightline) SCB-40 111 rest outside awaiting completion in Florin, California. Taken January 23rd, 2021. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 📸Nikon D3500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #pocket_rail...
www.instagram.com
Catenary
Active Member
That picture shows the front better that the previous ones. It does look to be slightly modified compared to the VIA renderings - the headlights curve in instead of being angled, and the entire front has a gentle curve across the bottom instead of some sharper angles. Overall, it still looks much better than the stub-nosed SC-44s from the Amtrak States orders and the beak-nosed AlC-42 from the Amtrak national order, and if this is for VIA I like it a bit more than their original rendering. I don't totally understand why Siemens seems to make a bespoke nose for every variant, but I guess it makes trainspotting easy.
With that said, this new angle makes me question if this is for VIA, and if it is what their livery will be. It's not all grey waiting for vinyl - the paint on the nose has some intricacy to it and does not match the renderings in any way. Is this possibly for another customer, or did VIA change their livery that much? Brightline is also waiting for more SCB-40s, and they could have decided on a nose-coneless design for more flexibility - the curves on this unit match their existing units well.
With that said, this new angle makes me question if this is for VIA, and if it is what their livery will be. It's not all grey waiting for vinyl - the paint on the nose has some intricacy to it and does not match the renderings in any way. Is this possibly for another customer, or did VIA change their livery that much? Brightline is also waiting for more SCB-40s, and they could have decided on a nose-coneless design for more flexibility - the curves on this unit match their existing units well.
kEiThZ
Superstar
Looks more like the Brightline vehicle.
Allandale25
Senior Member
^ The photographer captured one of those engines in the second picture in the Instagram post.
roger1818
Senior Member
It is possible that it was decided to put the grey stripe on the top and the Yellow Stripe on the bottom. Maybe they felt that the yellow would show the dirt (diesel particulates?) faster than the grey. A grimy look is hardly the image they would want to go for. It may also have difficult to colour match the the yellow above and below the vents.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
But there is a different/same project going on so are there still layoffs?Here it is, back at message #7230 in this thread
Bombardier La Pocatière perd un contrat de 54 millions
Ce contrat devait fournir du travail à environ 80 employés de l'usine de La Pocatière.ici.radio-canada.ca
- Paul
robw2708
New Member
No other customers have a third, high intensity headlight. This is the first of the VIA units for sure.
cplchanb
Senior Member
Perhaps with this replacement reality coming up its going to give the impetus to divest Via into a private company with govt mandates. Apart from the couple of panoramic cars in the 2000s I dont think Via has ever invested anything in new rolling stock since they were formed.
They will probably offload the Canadian and the Ocean first before they buy more trains.
roger1818
Senior Member
If it is a money pit like you claim, who would buy it?