By the end of next year, your train ride to Toronto or Montreal could be a lot more comfortable.
Via Rail previewed the first of 32 new Siemens trains on Tuesday at their Tremblay Road station in Ottawa.
“Canadians' journeys will never be the same,” says Martin Landry, Chief Commercial Officer with Via Rail.
The trains will be used on the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, serving destinations such as Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. Some of the new enhanced features on the train include:
Via Rail previewed its new corridor fleet on Nov. 30, 2021. The 32 trains are expected to be more comfortable, greener, and more efficient. They are expected to be ready for passengers by end of 2022. (Submitted/Via Rail)
Via Rail previewed its new corridor fleet on Nov. 30, 2021. The 32 trains are expected to be more comfortable, greener, and more efficient. They are expected to be ready for passengers by end of 2022. (Submitted/Via Rail)
Liberal MP for Ottawa Southn David McGuintyn was on hand at the preview and says, “I can tell you they are going to offer a new era of comfort and efficiency for the worker, the families, and the tourists, who travel on these tracks.”
Passengers are expected to board the new trains by the end of 2022.
Winter trials will begin overnight on the track in Ottawa. Crews will test out the new train and its advanced technology in harsh conditions like snow and extreme cold.
Landry says Canadian winter poses a challenge for the trains. “The train could start in Windsor with rain, come into Toronto with freezing rain and by the time it gets to Quebec City it is a snowstorm… those conditions are really taxing. We want to go through the full winter test through to the spring time.”
The trains are also fully accessible, and each includes onboard wheelchair elevators, large accessible washrooms, braille, and signage.
Via Rail says the trains are some of the most environmentally friendly intercity fleets in North America. They include diesel engines and are bidirectional.
Via Rail previewed its new corridor fleet on Nov. 30, 2021. The 32 trains are expected to be more comfortable, greener, and more efficient. They are expected to be ready for passengers by end of 2022. (Submitted/Via Rail)
McGuinty says “These bidirectional trains can operate in both directions, which will save time and reduce delays.”
Cynthia Garneau, VIA Rail President and CEO, says making sure the trains were environmentally friendly was a priority and they will continue to find ways to reduce the footprint.
“We will be in a position to reduce waste on our trains, so we will do pilot projects and put them in place throughout the corridor, ” she says.
Garneau adds the new fleet “marks a new era for passenger rail service in the corridor, where we served over 4.7 million passengers in 2019 and which represented 96% of our ridership pre-pandemic.”
Two of Canada's men's world junior hockey teams are being investigated by police following alleged group sexual assaults in 2003 and 2018.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's concerned sports organizations are not fulfilling their responsibility to keep athletes safe, and groups like Hockey Canada and Gymnastics Canada have work to do to restore trust and assure parents their children are taken care of.
Testimony has ended in the trial of a former Vancouver Canucks forward charged with sexual assault.
A Conservative committee reviewing Patrick Brown's disqualification from the leadership race has concluded the party had the evidence it needed to recommend he be removed from contention.
Frustrations are mounting as reports of lost and delayed baggage at Canada's airports pile up. On CTVNews.ca, passengers share their stories of spending weeks, even months, waiting to be reunited with their checked baggage.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it identified a technical glitch with the ArriveCAN entry app that erroneously notified some people to quarantine.
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former U.S. president Donald Trump was convicted Friday of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Canadian government will increase old age security starting next week, a move the feds say will be the first permanent raise to the pension in nearly 50 years.
A dispute over legal protections for American customs officers has kept Nexus enrolment centres closed in Canada more than three months after they reopened south of the border -- due in part to a clash over U.S. agents' right to carry guns on Canadian soil.
The MV Holiday Island ferry was evacuated Friday afternoon after a fire broke out in the engine room earlier in the day.
The senior RCMP officer in the district where the Nova Scotia mass shooting occurred says he stayed home during the rampage because having a "white shirt" present at the command post would have caused confusion.
The number of people with COVID-19 in Maritime hospitals this summer continues to climb, with more week-to-week increases in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
A man is in hospital with serious injuries after he was struck by a streetcar on St. Clair Avenue West in Toronto on Friday night.
Experts say there may be a chance to catch the northern lights in some parts of Ontario tonight, but there’s still some uncertainty.
Kiki Jones has spent the past few days taking cold showers, avoiding physical activity, keeping the blinds shut and blasting electric fans in their non-air-conditioned apartment in Toronto.
A 14-year-old girl drowned Friday at the Super Aqua Club in Pointe-Calumet, Que., in the Laurentians.
An explosion at a polymer research centre in Greater Montreal left one dead and three injured Friday morning.
Montreal's transit agency announced Friday that its new CEO is Marie-Claude Leonard, a 30-year veteran employee who started working there as an STM cashier when she was a student.
As of July 28, children aged five and under are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Instead of its usual Italian Festival, the Marconi Cultural Event Centre is expanding the event to encompass other cultures.
Canada’s longest-running match play golf tournament is back. The 74th annual Idylwylde Invitational features some of the top golfers in the province.
The London Police Service is investigating after a serious vehicle collision claimed the life of a pedestrian late Friday afternoon in the south end of the city.
London police say a body has been found in an open field.
An overnight road closure on Highway 401 is now clear after police say a transport truck collided with a maintenance truck being used to protect crews painting lines on the road.
It's usually a popular place to cool down on a hot summer day at a North Kildonan apartment complex but no one was in the water Friday after an emergency Thursday afternoon at its outdoor swimming pool.
The Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak along with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation said they are looking for a woman who they believe was abducted in Winnipeg.
Lac du Bonnet RCMP are investigating a potential drowning in the Winnipeg River.
New data shows even though the average home price is coming down, higher stress tests driven by increasing mortgage rates mean the annual income you need to buy a home is actually going up in Kitchener and many Canadian cities.
The Waterloo Region District Public School Board has offered few public details about what it’s calling the “cyber incidents” that impacted its IT system, but one cyber security expert says the breach is concerning.
Bulldog Hanover, a horse from Puslinch, Ont., recently broke the world record for the fastest mile at a racetrack in New Jersey.
Matthew Tkachuk was traded by the Calgary Flames to the Florida Panthers Friday in a deal that brought back a package including Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2025 first-round draft pick, the Flames announced Friday evening.
Strathmore RCMP are on the scene of a fatal collision that took place Friday night on Highway 22X at Range Road 280.
Tempers are flaring as another health care facility in Alberta starts two months of temporary closures.
The city is left footing the bill after a Saskatoon bridge was damaged in a hit-and-run earlier this year.
With less than six months of experience, a Prince Albert Paramedic has delivered two babies already, and he has a special connection with the most recent baby he helped deliver.
As gas prices rise in Alberta, the premier says he's going to ask Canada's competition bureau to investigate potential price fixing in the province.
Residential school survivors from the Samson Cree Nation held a press conference on Thursday ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Alberta next week.
Dalton Schoen’s 81-yard touchdown catch proved to be the difference as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers remained perfect on the season, defeating the Edmonton Elks 24-10 on Friday.
Mounties are looking for a man accused of murder who they say is unlawfully at large after he left the North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
A long-range plan meant to help shape Vancouver's future, which includes controversial renter protections, has been approved by city council.
Testimony has ended in the trial of a former Vancouver Canucks forward charged with sexual assault.
The Pope may not be visiting Saskatchewan on his national apology tour, but that doesn’t mean some of the provinces’ residential school survivors won’t be seeing him.
Community fridges are struggling to keep their shelves stocked as food insecurity continues to be a prevalent issue in Regina.
Southey RCMP have released a sketch of the suspect in an alleged sexual assault of a preteen child in Govan, Sask.
© 2022 All rights reserved. Use of this Website assumes acceptance of Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy