Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The federal government will spend $4.7-billion to build and maintain more than 300 Via Rail passenger rail cars in Canada, using facilities in Quebec and Thunder Bay, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday.
The Prime Minister framed the train car announcement as an example of how the federal government is encouraging more domestic manufacturing at a time when its largest trading partner takes a protectionist turn with waves of new tariffs.
Via Rail’s most recent passenger cars are from Siemens Canada and were built in Sacramento, Calif. Siemens received a $989-million contract in 2018 to build 32 passenger cars for the Quebec-City Windsor corridor. Those trains began to enter service in 2022.
The trains currently operating outside of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor have an average age of 77 years old. The new replacements are scheduled to begin entering service in 2031, and will include sleeper cars, dining cars and cars with panorama views.
Footage by The Canadian Press. #canada #CdnPoli
The federal government will spend $4.7-billion to build and maintain more than 300 Via Rail passenger rail cars in Canada, using facilities in Quebec and Thunder Bay, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday.
The Prime Minister framed the train car announcement as an example of how the federal government is encouraging more domestic manufacturing at a time when its largest trading partner takes a protectionist turn with waves of new tariffs.
Via Rail’s most recent passenger cars are from Siemens Canada and were built in Sacramento, Calif. Siemens received a $989-million contract in 2018 to build 32 passenger cars for the Quebec-City Windsor corridor. Those trains began to enter service in 2022.
The trains currently operating outside of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor have an average age of 77 years old. The new replacements are scheduled to begin entering service in 2031, and will include sleeper cars, dining cars and cars with panorama views.
Footage by The Canadian Press. #canada #CdnPoli
