Canada Commits C$4.7bn for 313 Alstom-Built VIA Rail Cars, Largest Order in Operator's History

The Canadian federal government will invest more than C$4.7 billion for VIA Rail to acquire and maintain 313 new passenger cars from Alstom Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on September 3 in Thunder Bay — the largest investment in the operator's history and the first time in four decades that VIA's cars will be built domestically.

The cars will be manufactured and assembled at Alstom's plants in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and La Pocatière, Québec, with design and engineering carried out in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec. Ottawa says the order will support nearly 700 jobs and generate more than C$1.6 billion in economic benefits, with Alstom drawing on a network of more than 900 Canadian suppliers and maximising the use of Canadian steel under the government's Buy Canadian policy.

The 313-car fleet — including dining cars, panorama cars and sleepers — will replace equipment on VIA Rail's eight long-distance, regional and remote routes outside the Québec City–Windsor corridor, where some cars are more than 70 years old. VIA says the new fleet will retain signature features such as dome cars and full-service dining while adding modern amenities and improved accessibility. The first cars are projected to enter service in 2031, with the order completed by 2035.

Combined with July's C$1.95 billion package — 45 Stadler locomotives, up to 36 of them assembled in Canada, and a new C$357 million assembly and maintenance facility in Montréal — federal investment in renewing VIA's long-distance fleet now exceeds C$6.6 billion.

"For the first time in four decades, VIA's passenger cars will be built in Canada," Carney said. "Cars once made in the United States, now made here at home."