VIA Rail

[robw2708]

Haven't seen anything about this in this thread yet. HEP 2 in renaissance livery.

 

[steveintoronto]

Yup, that speed (125 mp/h = 201 km/h) is a requirement as per PDF page 40 in the RFQ.

I would hope that VIA has put this requirement in their RFP as well for the cars,

The cars are based on the Railjet ones:

The Railjet (branded as railjet) is a high-speedtrain of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD), which was introduced with the timetable change of 2008-2009 and operates at speeds of up to 230 km/h (143 mph). The railjet is the premier service of the ÖBB and operates both domestically within Austria and on international services to adjacent major cities in Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and from December 2017 Italy.[6]

A Railjet train set consists of seven individual coaches that are permanently coupled with airtight interconnections,[citation needed] but with buffer and hook couplings on the outer ends of the set of coaches suitable for buffer and chain screw coupling[19] Two complete train sets with two locomotives can be run as a pair giving a train of fourteen carriages.[20] The coach furthest from the locomotive acts as a control car. The number of carriages per train can be extended up to ten in a single train unit.[21]
[...]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railjet

Since Brightline is looking to run them at 200 kph, it's a pretty safe bet that the coaches haven't been too 'Americanized' to not have the best bogies and thoroughbred design characteristics of their European parents:

A second phase would see the construction of a new 60 km passenger-only line suitable for 200 km/h running along the State Road 528 corridor between Cocoa and Orlando International Airport, to complete a 385 km corridor from Miami. The Brightline fleet would then be expanded to 10 seven-car sets carrying 356 passengers.
[...]
https://www.railwaygazette.com/news...-unveils-siemens-locomotives-and-coaches.html

Note the reference to "trailer cars" (cab cars) something that VIA might find very useful, especially in lieu of later electrification: (Which is a requirement in the RFQ for forward compatibility/conversion)

All aboard! A morning railJet about to leave Munich for Vienna & Budapest. Munich Hauptbahnhof is just 15 minutes walk from Munich's famous Dom & Marienplatz.


RailJet from Switzerland... A railJet about to leave Zurich for Innsbruck, Salzburg & Vienna. railjets are 'push-pull', with a locomotive at one end & a driving cab (shown here) at the other.

https://www.seat61.com/railjet.htm

 

[SaugeenJunction]

The cars are based on the Railjet ones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railjet

Since Brightline is looking to run them at 200 kph, it's a pretty safe bet that the coaches haven't been too 'Americanized' to not have the best bogies and thoroughbred design characteristics of their European parents:


Note the reference to "trailer cars" (cab cars) something that VIA might find very useful, especially in lieu of later electrification: (Which is a requirement in the RFQ for forward compatibility/conversion)
https://www.seat61.com/railjet.htm

Interestingly, Siemens does make Charger cab cars:

 

[Allandale25]

Two hi rail vehicles reached Churchill yesterday. Article mentions possible timing of the first VIA train.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-rail-repair-vehicles-1.4855050

 

[APTA-2048]

I hope you emailed that design to VIA at least!

My dream would be for the corridor to have double decker electrified trains with interiors that look like this:

http://www.priestmangoode.com/project/mercury-train/

I know we're well past the era of public services caring about design and aesthetics, but I honestly wish they would do something like that if they ever did HFR, just to maximize on the contrast with air and bus travel. But I guess the Siemens Chargers are a decent start.

That is definitely something to aspire to. Those trains look really nice.

I really like it but I would love to see your design with a touch of green from the Renaissance Green livery.

I did consider adding teal in some form, but didn't settle on an application that I liked. I wanted to keep the modern, minimalist aesthetic.

 

[steveintoronto]

Interestingly, Siemens does make Charger cab cars:

Well now....that's beyond interesting! Again, that's based on the RailJet model, but with North Am details.

Siemens are exquisitely poised to win this...

 

[cplchanb]

Our rail service reputation is so poor with the general public that I'd argue there's a business case for paying for better looking trains just to glam it up a little.

That's actually what they need to do. I bet many people are detracted from riding simply because they view our trains a relic of the distant past. The fact that we mix and match old and less old rolling stock just shows via has no ambitions to be up with the times. People who've ridden on overseas high speed trains look down on via as a decrepit run down line that is badly in need of 21st century equipment

 

[Urban Sky]

The fact that we mix and match old and less old rolling stock just shows via has no ambitions to be up with the times.

My sincere apologies that we haven't just scrapped our HEP equipment many years ago and focused on whatever skeleton service you can run with a fleet of 97 LRC and 47 Renaissance Economy/Business cars...

By the way, if you desire the same slow and infrequent intercity rail services as in the Corridor, but with more modern equipment, I highly recommend Portugal (same goes for those searching highly affordable vacations, beautiful landscapes and very pleasant locals):

 

[crs1026]

My sincere apologies that we haven't just scrapped our HEP equipment many years ago and focused on whatever skeleton service you can run with a fleet of 97 LRC and 47 Renaissance Economy/Business cars...

We feel VIA’s pain.

Actually, it would be an interesting hypothetical discussion to compare the merits and economics of a third LRC order versus the cost of acquiring, refurbishing, and operating the HEP-II fleet. I suspect those old cans have been cheaper to operate, but another 50 LRC coaches would likely have been more marketable. VIA has done a commendable job of working with what it has been given, but no self respecting first world country would do things on a shoestring the way Canada has.

- Paul

 

[SamStar]

whatever skeleton service you can run with a fleet of 97 LRC and 47 Renaissance Economy/Business cars...

I am sure this was mentioned before, but I have concerns about VIA ordering only 32 brand new train sets for 9100 passenger train sets and limited expansion capacity in a foreseeable future.

 

[robmausser]

We feel VIA’s pain.

Actually, it would be an interesting hypothetical discussion to compare the merits and economics of a third LRC order versus the cost of acquiring, refurbishing, and operating the HEP-II fleet. I suspect those old cans have been cheaper to operate, but another 50 LRC coaches would likely have been more marketable. VIA has done a commendable job of working with what it has been given, but no self respecting first world country would do things on a shoestring the way Canada has.

- Paul

The LRCs are rotting to the frame, and need to be tossed, the refurbishment program on them being abandoned, while the Stainless Steel HEP's will last another 50 years if need be.

Via made the right choice.

 

[robmausser]

Haven't seen anything about this in this thread yet. HEP 2 in renaissance livery.

Is that the Sarnia train?

 

[Urban Sky]

I am sure this was mentioned before, but I have concerns about VIA ordering only 32 brand new train sets for 9100 passenger train sets and limited expansion capacity in a foreseeable future.

It’s a fleet replacement program which replaces the entire Corridor fleet, but what would prevent the federal government from telling the supplier to keep producing beyond the original order size, should they identify a need to expand the fleet size...?

 

[rbt]

By the way, if you desire the same slow and infrequent intercity rail services as in the Corridor, but with more modern equipment, I highly recommend Portugal (same goes for those searching highly affordable vacations, beautiful landscapes and very pleasant locals)

That Porto<->Lisbon train has a few different types of service running on it; AP (express) and IC (more stops). The AP track is in such poor shape that I usually take the slower IC train as the express makes me seasick. That top speed is right up against, or even beyond, their technical capability.

Also, thank goodness they added an English translation to cp.pt. Purchasing tickets via Google Translate was always a tricky business and resellers are horrible (no electronic tickets; barely same-day pickup at the station for tickets).

 

[Allandale25]

Two hi rail vehicles reached Churchill yesterday. Article mentions possible timing of the first VIA train.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-rail-repair-vehicles-1.4855050

Video of the hi rails arriving here.