MONTREAL— VIA Rail Canada has issued a formal “Request for Qualification” for prospective carbuilders to replace long-distance, regional, and remote-service passenger cars that date from the mid-1950s. This follows a November RFQ for locomotives to power the new single-level equipment.
The request issued today (Monday, Dec. 9) follows a commitment earlier this year by the Trudeau government to fund a new fleet that would allow VIA to retire the stainless steel coaches, diners, sleeping cars, and dome-lounges of the Toronto-Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian. Those cars were first placed in service by Canadian Pacific in 1954 and have become increasingly difficult to maintain, as have the Renaissance coaches and sleepers dating from the late 1990s currently assigned to the Montreal-Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ocean. If not replaced, service outside the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor would end because the company has deemed recently arriving Venture trainsets unsuitable to meet long-distance passenger needs.
VIA is seeking nine different car types. It is important to note that the illustrations VIA provided are only suggestions based on feedback from manufacturers, not necessarily an exact depiction of what may actually be built.
Collaborative process
In an exclusive Trains News Wire interview, Arnaud Lacaze, VIA’s vice president of fleet renewal programs, explained that the process leading to today’s passenger car RFQ began with a business-case presentation to Transport Canada, the funding agency, in 2022. After getting a green light to proceed, the following year, he says, “We built a project team to develop a request for information in collaboration with any interested manufacturers to participate with us in developing specifications for the variety of car types needed.”
The in-house team had candid separate, confidential discussions with individual carbuilders over a year and a half beginning in 2023 to identify VIA’s desires for lounge, dining, and sleeping space — including accessibility requirements — as well as the manufacturer’s capabilities. “At the end, we found out what they can do — and what they cannot do,” Lacaze says. “We’re not saying there’s no risk, but we are confident enough that the specifications are aligned with the discussions we had with them.”
Every meeting was attended by an independent, impartial “fairness monitor” and there was an equal opportunity for every carbuilder to give feedback, but it was up to each manufacturer if they wanted to participate in the RFI process. Of the eight carbuilders who originally expressed interest, Lacaze says four entered in active talks.
As an example of the meetings, he said a discussion of lounge space might see either party ask, “If we made this change, would it be better for you?”
This collaborative approach is far different than what News Wire has learned from various sources to be how Amtrak has addressed prospective carbuilders with its bilevel equipment long-distance procurement. Amtrak’s initial Request for Proposals was issued in December 2023 with specific requirements for manufacturers, such as elevators in certain cars. At least 10 amendments to the RFP followed, based on what the two remaining bidders were willing to attempt; Amtrak’s latest deadline is reportedly Dec. 15. 2024.
Order to include four types of sleepers
The call for nine types of car is actually a substantial reduction from the start of the process.
“Our main target was to reduce the number of car types,” Lacaze says. “We started with 21 and were able to reduce that to nine that would work on all routes: the Canadian, the Ocean, and trains to Gaspe, Prince Rupert, Churchill, and remote Ontario and Quebec communities.”
Of the nine types in the finalized RFQ, three duplicate historical designs and function:
— Baggage. Must accommodate large items delivered to remote stops, contain climate-controlled areas for dogs
— Coaches. Ranging from short day use to multi-night trips
— Dining. The illustration shows a double-window Viewliner-type design, which Lacaze confirmed was high on VIA’s wish list. Today’s press release notes the cars “will have a full kitchen, allowing our chefs to prepare tasty meals using fresh ingredients, with an emphasis on local produce.”
Sleeping-car options offer varied accommodations, but not in the same car:
— Room sleeper. Gone is the “cabin for one” roomette. All accommodations will be for two with facing seats. Details on the room size appear to be subject to further design input, but “the intention,” Lacaze says, “will be to have a row of upper berth windows.”
— Accessible sleeper. All rooms in this car can accommodate passengers with disabilities. The larger accommodation would be similar to a bedroom layout
— Berth sleeper. Surprise! Creating an all-section car will help bridge the pricing and comfort gap on overnight journeys. In a way, it harkens back to the “tourist sleeper” concept employed by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and other western roads in the 1950s. In the post-World War II lightweight era, only the California Zephyr and some Union Pacific trains debuted with streamlined all-section cars, which were later converted to coaches. The great advantage of berths is that passengers can socialize and see landscape on both sides of the train.
–Prestige sleeper. The pricey accommodation remanufactured from eight Budd Chateau sleepers by Wisconsin’s Avalon Rail was a hit on the Canadian. The number of bedrooms will be determined by what the manufacturer can cost-effectively build while retaining the desired features, such as the fold-down double bed.
Lounge cars will retain curved glass and domes:
— Panorama lounge. The design reinvents as a full-window lounge Colorado Railcar’s Panorama coach, which VIA acquired from BC Rail’s defunct Whistler Northwind (and previously the Florida Fun Train experiment of the 1990s).
— Dome-lounge. Lacaze tells News Wire this car was an iconic addition that would only be deployed on the Canadian. “It’s not possible to duplicate the Park car’s round end — it would cost a lot. It will be like the Skyline lounge car.” This center car dome is what VIA depicted in the rendering released Monday. There will be a lift of some type allowing passengers with disabilities to get to the dome. “We don’t want to be prescriptive,” says Lacaze. “We will work with the manufacturer to make it fully accessible.”
VIA expects to select one builder’s total package. “We are open to any proposed joint venture,” Lacaze says, “ but there will be one contract.” Timelines for delivery and the sequence of production have already been discussed with each manufacturer and is in the RFQ, but details were not immediately available.
The last time a complete set of long-distance passenger cars of all types was conceived was Pullman Standard’s Superliner order of the mid-1970s, developed under Amtrak’s then president, Paul Reistrup. That equipment was reprised with Bombardier-built Superliner IIs in the early 1990s. Viewliner dining car and sleeper prototypes conceived at Beech Grove debuted in 1987 resulted in production orders beginning in 1995 from Morrison-Knudsen and 2012 from CAF, USA. Cost-overrun and production issues helped bankrupt M-K and delayed CAF deliveries.
Clearly, this is a risky process. But it appears VIA has taken every step possible to join with manufacturers and confront challenges in a collaborative way.
— Updated at 6:40 p.m. to clarify elements of Amtrak RFP process; updated Dec. 10 at 10:15 a.m. to note the history of all-section streamlined sleeping cars.
