VIA Rail
VIA Rail on April 2 reported selecting CAD Railway Industries, located in Lachine, Québec, to carry out upgrades to key systems and interiors of the entire fleet of 56 Château and Manor sleeper cars used on the The Ocean and The Canadian long-distance routes. The work, valued at C$150 million, will be carried out over the next five years as part of what Canada’s passenger rail company called its “ongoing commitment” to improving the rider experience and strengthening service.
“This initiative will create more than 100 skilled jobs in engineering, project management, and specialized trades, while contributing to economic growth in the Greater Montréal area and reinforcing Canada’s rail manufacturing and maintenance capabilities,” VIA Rail said.
“This investment is about delivering for Canadians today, while we build for the future,” noted Mathieu Paquette, President and CEO of VIA Rail. “By modernizing these sleeper cars here in Canada, we are enhancing comfort and reliability for our passengers, supporting skilled Canadian jobs, and ensuring our services continue to meet expectations as we renew our fleet over the coming decade.”
“This project highlights the strength of Canada’s rail expertise and the importance of investing in domestic industrial capacity,” added David Van der Wee, President and CEO of CAD Railway Industries. “We are proud to support VIA Rail in delivering high-quality service to Canadians.”
The Château and Manor sleeping cars were built by Budd Car Company and AMF between July 1954 and November 1954 and between November 1954 and April 1955, respectively. VIA Rail acquired all the cars in 1978. The Château cars are generally used for the Montréal-Gaspé and Winnipeg-Churchill routes, and also for The Canadian when there is a need for them in spring and summer. The Manor cars, which are generally used for The Canadian, have a stainless-steel design that mimics the fuselage of the first airliners that began to appear in the 1950s, according to VIA Rail.
The Château and Manor cars were originally built for use by Canadian Pacific on its Canadian and Dominion trains. They are named in honor of important figures in Canadian history, according to VIA Rail, which noted that the CPR selected the names to commemorate famed explorers and administrators of the first French and British colonies.
According to VIA Rail, over the coming years it will “progressively renew the trains serving its long-distance, regional, and remote (LDRR) network.” The procurement process for new locomotives and passenger cars is already under way, it noted, with full fleet replacement expected over the next decade. VIA Rail in 2018 awarded Siemens a C$989 million ($741 million) contract to supply 32 intercity trainsets.
Portland Streetcar
The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has selected CAF USA to manufacture and deliver 15 new vehicles for Portland Streetcar. The new URBOS streetcars, it reported April 2, will be “hybrid battery-equipped to serve a new off-wire portion of the Portland Streetcar system as the NS Line expands to Montgomery Park in Northwest Portland.”
CAF USA will build the streetcars at its railcar manufacturing facility in Elmira, N.Y. The company has also built streetcars for use in Kansas City, Cincinnati and Omaha.
The new CAF vehicles will replace Portland’s original Czech-built streetcar fleet, which began service in 2001 and is nearing the end of its operating lifecycle, as well as a few others in need of replacement due to age or damage, according to the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation.
Portland Streetcar began operation in 2001 between NW 23rd Avenue and Portland State University. Subsequent projects have expanded service to the South Waterfront, Central Eastside, Lloyd District, and Lower Albina. The new project to Montgomery Park in northwest Portland is expected to break ground in 2028 and could begin revenue service by 2030 with the inclusion of new CAF vehicles, according to the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation.
“CAF USA is thrilled to be a part of making history by entering a partnership with the Portland Streetcar system,” said Jitendra Tomar, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for CAF USA. “The system is a landmark for modern streetcars in the United States.”
“We look forward to moving ahead with negotiating the specifics of design and engineering for these new streetcars,” said Dan Bower, Executive Director of Portland Streetcar, Inc., the City’s project manager for the procurement. “Replacing 25-year-old vehicles with brand new streetcars will be an improvement in the comfort, safety and reliability riders can expect and sets the stage for the next 30 years of success.”
Negotiations on vehicle specifications, cost, delivery timeline, and other elements, will begin this month
“We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to serve the great city of Portland to deliver reliable and safe transportation with our URBOS streetcars,” said Felix Fernandez, CEO of CAF USA. “They are dependable and proven in service all around the world with modern amenities for riders, and we will incorporate unique features for Portland such as off-wire capability to run on battery technology where needed.”
Brookville Equipment Corp. in 2023 delivered the first of three new Liberty® NXT Streetcars to Portland Streetcar, expanding the agency’s fleet and enabling increased service. The vehicles were part of a $13.6 million contract with Portland Streetcar in a joint procurement with Sound Transit. The 66-foot-long, 70% low-floor NXTs have an eight-foot-wide carbody with seating for up to 26 passengers, including four accessibility seats for those with bikes or wheelchairs, and a full capacity of 100. They are ADA-compliant with deployable bridge plates for easy entry and egress.
Further Reading:
Caltrain
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board of Directors (Caltrain) met on April 2 for a budget workshop during which it said the “staff outlined the significant service reductions Caltrain could be forced to make without new external funding.”
“Senate Bill 63 authorized the formation of a new, five-county Public Transit Revenue Measure District that allows the board of that District or citizens using the initiative process to place a revenue measure on the November 2026 ballot,” Caltrain said. “A group of citizens has already begun gathering signatures for a citizen’s initiative to bring the measure to the ballot.
“Absent a new, reliable funding source—through a regional measure or other external support—Caltrain will be forced to make significant service and staffing cuts, with potentially long‑lasting consequences for the tens of thousands of people and businesses that depend on—and have begun to benefit from—the newly electrified system.”
The potential cuts that were presented to the Caltrain Board as part of a “no external funding scenario” included:
- Closing more than one-third of stations.
- Eliminating all weekend service.
- Reducing train frequency to once per hour.
- Ending service by 9 p.m.
- Cutting segments of services.
“Caltrain is delivering more frequent, faster, and more reliable service for riders up and down the Peninsula,” Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard said. “But, as discussed in today’s [April 2] meeting, we are facing a structural funding challenge that cannot be solved through cuts or efficiencies alone. Without a stable, long-term funding solution, we will be forced to make difficult decisions that would significantly reduce service and impact the communities that rely on Caltrain every day.”
Caltrain is currently projecting an average annual deficit of approximately $75 million from FY2027 to FY2041. “This is due in large part, to the rise of remote work and changing travel patterns,” the railroad said. “Caltrain also has high fixed costs with maintaining its new electric infrastructure and state-of-the-art fleet that are required whether the agency runs a single train daily or the usual 104.”
Caltrain said it has responded by instituting cost-cutting measures where it can and expanding new revenue sources to reduce its annual operating deficit. These include FTE freezes, crewing efficiencies, and reductions to professional services and other non-labor expenses. The agency said it is “also working hard to help fund a portion of operating costs through revenue from sources other than fares, including from advertising and naming rights, monetizing Caltrain’s real estate, as well as other assets like fiber optic cable capacity and more.”
While these measures are “showing some results and will remain critical initiatives,” Caltrain said, “the reality remains that they cannot solve the structural deficit alone.”
Last May, the Caltrain Board of Directors voted to support SB 63, which authorized a proposed 14-year regional tax measure to fund public transit in the Bay Area and would allocate approximately 7% of its funds to Caltrain—by creating a half-cent sales tax in four counties and a one cent sales tax in San Francisco, with built-in measures to ensure effective oversight and accountability.
“If the measure qualifies for the ballot and a majority of voters support the measure, it is projected to fully fund Caltrain’s operating deficit for the 14-year duration of the measure,” Caltrain said. “The Caltrain Board will continue refining the FY2027 budget options in the coming months, alongside long-term service and financial planning efforts to address the agency’s projected fiscal cliff should external funding not become available.”
Further Reading:
- Success Story
- Caltrain Board Adopts Corridor Right-of-Way Safety Strategy (part of Transit Briefs)
- For Bay Area Transit, a $590MM ‘Fiscal Bridge’
- Caltrain: ‘Cuts to Come’ Without External Funding
- Caltrain Implementing Asset Monitoring Tech at Crossings
SMART
On Sunday, April 12, 2026, nine North Bay transit operators will implement coordinated service changes as part of the Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service (MASCOTS) Plan, a collaborative effort to improve public transportation in the Highway 101 corridor, according to SMART, a 48.1-mile commuter railroad, which has stations in Windsor, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael and Larkspur (see map below).
The plan was developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Transportation Authority of Marin, the Sonoma County Transportation and Climate Authorities, SMART, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, Marin Transit, Sonoma County Transit, Santa Rosa CityBus, and Petaluma Transit.
“The MASCOTS Plan was created to grow ridership and improve the effectiveness of transit service by delivering a more connected, frequent transit network—making it easier for riders to travel across Marin and Sonoma counties and into San Francisco with better timed connections and more options throughout the day,” SMART reported.
On April 12, SMART service will increase by 19%, with more frequent service running earlier in the morning and later in the evening. The service increases will close midday gaps and provide improved transfer times with local bus service for better first- and last-mile connections, according to SMART. On weekdays, SMART will increase service to 48 trips. On weekends, service will increase to 24 trips per day.
“The MASCOTS Plan reflects months of partnership and careful planning among multiple transit operators and funding agencies, and I want to commend every organization involved for their cooperative efforts,” SMART Board Chair and Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey said. “By aligning schedules, strengthening timed transfers, and expanding service where it’s needed most, we are delivering a more seamless rider experience across Marin and Sonoma—and better connections into San Francisco. This is regional collaboration that will pay dividends for the communities we serve.”
Golden Gate Transit Route 101 will run more often between the San Rafael Transit Center and San Francisco—every 30 minutes all day and every 15 minutes during weekday peak periods—roughly doubling previous service levels. Route 101 will continue to Novato (every 60 minutes all day and every 30 minutes during peak periods), but service north of Novato to Santa Rosa (and intermediate communities) will be discontinued and replaced by increased SMART train service.
Together, the expanded SMART and Golden Gate Transit Route 101 services are slated to create more seamless connections between Marin and San Francisco, giving riders more reliable transit options.
Three new trips are being added to Route 132 between southern Marin County and San Francisco.
Route 120 will replace Routes 130 and 150 in southern Marin, starting at Strawberry Village and going to San Francisco via Sausalito every 30 minutes most of the day, with timed connections to/from Marin Transit Route 71 at Marin City.
Commute bus service in Sonoma County will be streamlined into a single alignment with higher frequency and additional trips; Route 172 will have buses running every 20-30 minutes during peak periods.
Route 580 trips will be faster and more direct with express service from Bellam Blvd. to Pt. Richmond, and more trips added. Riders will use Marin Transit Route 23 for access to/from East San Rafael.
Marin Transit Route 71 will serve Marin Community Clinics in Novato and the San Marin SMART station, and timed connections to/from Golden Gate’s Route 120 will be provided at Marin City.
All local transit agencies are planning changes to improve connections with regional transit services. Check individual agency websites for route and schedule information.
There are no changes to Paratransit services.
Separately, SMART on May 31, 2025, officially began passenger rail service to its new Windsor station, as part of the Windsor Rail System Extension Project, a 3.1-mile extension from the northern terminus at Sonoma County, Airport Station to the town of Windsor.
Further Reading:
The post Transit Briefs: VIA Rail, Portland Streetcar, Caltrain, SMART appeared first on Railway Age.