TORONTO — The first portion of VIA’s C$989 million order for 32 Siemens Charger trainsets has arrived in Canada. Running in darkness in Michigan and Ontario, it arrived in Toronto early Wednesday. With urgency, the train operated as CN P698 from Chicago to Montreal, arriving in Montreal less than 24 hours after it departed Chicago, and only four days since they left the Siemens factory in
Sacramento. The bidirectional trainsets include Siemens Charger locomotives and such features as high-performance wi-fi and USB ports at seats [see “VIA Rail Canada, Siemens announce deal …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 13, 2018].
