kEiThZ
Superstar
Any place for the full audio?
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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
Any place for the full audio?
kEiThZ
Superstar
On those rare exceptions, run a daily two car DMU. But it's just dumb to run an RDC to Sarnia.
Also, there needs to be a discussion on which routes VIA is obligated to serve and which ones the provinces should pony up for. Because there's plenty more places with poor to no oad access in Canada that VIA doesn't serve.
Allandale25
Senior Member
See my original post here where I said 'here is the audio' and provided a link to files in Google Drive. They are .mp3 files. Let me know if they don't work for some reason. The audio is just the VIA Rail President and CEO, I didn't both with the other panel members.
kEiThZ
Superstar
What you provided was great. Hoping to catch more of the questions she answered, than the 7 mins you provided.
ManyQuestions
Active Member
From my understanding, single car DMUs were intended primarily to maintain service on secondary lines that no longer warranted larger trains. Given that VIA no longer operates any such minor lines other than a few rural services, I do not see why RDCs are necessary; it's not like VIA is going to find money to start reopening closed lines with minimal traffic.
Given this, I would not be surprised if one of the major reasons for choosing the Siemens bid for fleet renewal was that the use of cab cars and separable coaches enables VIA to use the same trains on both HFR and lower demand routes.
Given this, I would not be surprised if one of the major reasons for choosing the Siemens bid for fleet renewal was that the use of cab cars and separable coaches enables VIA to use the same trains on both HFR and lower demand routes.
roger1818
Active Member
The routes for which this "rare exception" applies are:
- Montreal - Jonquière,
- Montreal - Senneterre,
- Sudbury - White River,
- Jasper - Prince Rupert, and
- Winnipeg - Churchill.
I tend to agree. I posted on the SSP that VIA should be divided into 3 divisions and have each division funded by a different government department based on its purpose.
- Transcontinental - Canadian Heritage (or Travel and tourism)
- Regional - Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
- Corridor - Transport Canada
Allandale25
Senior Member
Oh sorry let me clarify. There was only one question received and it was for VIA and about SW Ontario service. So, from what I recall almost all of the time was taken up by the speakers and so there was just that one audience question (the name of the person who asked wasn't given). So I tried to capture and summarize all of the relevant VIA-related content.
ManyQuestions
Active Member
I'm surprised that Garneau mentioned électrification; did the Siemens order contain options for exchanging some chargers with electric units? If not, VIA might be able to exchange some for EXO's bimodes that are now exclusively used under diesel power.
Allandale25
Senior Member
^ I'm probably completely mistaken on this but for some reason I thought that the new Siemens units could be converted/retrofitted to electric units? I'm probably wrong.
ManyQuestions
Active Member
^ I thought that they were normal diesel locomotives that could be swapped for electric ones while retaining the coaches and cab cars. The wikipedia entry does not show any signs of convertibility.
en.wikipedia.org
Siemens Charger - Wikipedia
roger1818
Active Member
Does anyone know if VIA plans on having the coaches configured with semi-permanent or Tightlock (Janney ARR Type H) couplers (or a combination of the two)? The Siemens Venture coaches can be (and have been) configured either way and sometimes with combinations of the two. Obviously the locomotives (and cab cars) will have ARR couplers at the cab end, to make split service operation possible.
There are pros and cons to both options. Semi-permanent makes it easier to travel between coaches but they can't be reconfigured on the fly (it needs to be done in the shop). Tightlock couplers allow the trains to be quickly and easily reconfigured, but traveling between cars more challenging as both coaches are swaying back and forth independently.
kEiThZ
Superstar
They have plenty of varied equipment now. Adding DMUs could actually be part of a fleet simplification scheme. Especially if deployed at the Kingston Hub post-HFR. What is important here is kit that enables daily service for a reasonable cost. If the only economical way to run a train of coaches with a locomotive is to run 3x per week, then should consider DMU consists with fewer cars that enable daily service.
I'm not just saying a different government department. But a different government altogether. Why is the Government of Canada paying for rail service that runs entirely within a given province and has no national significance?
roger1818
Active Member
It was a bit confusing. The Procurement Process had a key requirement of, "Tier 4 Diesel engines, with the option to operate on electrified rail infrastructure as it becomes available." However, the RFQ says, "If VIA Rail is given the authority to build its own infrastructure and electrification is required, then the additional trainsets must be capable of both diesel and electric operation (dual-mode)," (emphasis added by me) but there was no requirement that the original trainsets in the original order be dual mode. I gather Siemens assured VIA that they would be able to sell VIA dual mode locomotives in the future if needed.
roger1818
Active Member
They currently do, and their maintenance costs are high. Reducing the variability in the equipment they use would greatly reduce their maintenance costs. DMUs have their advantages, but they also have their disadvantages. Check out this article, Why You Don’t See Many Long Distance Diesel Multiple Unit Trains.
Relations with the First Nations is a federal responsibility. That's why I put Regional trains under Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
crs1026
Senior Member
^One interesting tidbit about the couplers etc: I’m told that one of the modifications that is being made in the main maintenance bases in anticipation of the Chargers is sufficient jacking capacity to do wheel/truck changeouts without separating cars in a trainset. That tells me that VIA is serious about semipermanent connections between cars.
- Paul
- Paul