Siemens Issues Cause VIA Rail Service Cancellations
VIA Rail has reported a significant decline in the fleet availability of its Siemens Venture trains during the winter months. Currently, the availability has dropped to below 50%, a stark contrast to the industry standard of 90%. This has led to a series of disruptions and service cancellations.
Impact of Service Cancellations
On December 10, 2025, an incident involving train 669 stranded passengers overnight in Brockville. Since then, many trains have faced operational challenges, resulting in last-minute cancellations. To address the snow ingress issues, VIA Rail implemented a policy in January to run all trains with the locomotive forward. However, this tactic has led to increased terminal delays.
Ongoing Mechanical Issues
Several locomotives have remained immobilized due to serious mechanical problems, such as a seized axle in Belleville. The conditions have been compounded by weatherproofing deficiencies, including frozen doors and frequent power failures. Despite these challenges, some power failures have been resolved without significant delays.
Scheduled Cancellations
To mitigate further disruptions, VIA Rail has announced a series of trip cancellations for the week of February 7, 2026. The planned cancellations include:
- February 7: Trains 38, 633
- February 8: Trains 38, 44, 54
- February 9: Trains 31, 38, 53, 54, 61, 68, 641, 644
- February 10: Trains 31, 38, 53, 54, 61, 68, 641, 644
- February 11: Trains 31, 38, 53, 54, 61, 68, 641, 644
- February 12: Trains 31, 38, 53, 61, 68, 641
- February 13: Train 31
These cancellations are aimed at maintaining additional trains in reserve in key locations like Toronto and Montreal. This measure is intended to enhance reliability ahead of peak travel weekends in February, particularly during university reading weeks.
Long-Term Concerns
Despite the Siemens Venture trains being in service for several years, reliability issues have persisted. VIA Rail is phasing out older LRC equipment, which limits its capacity to offset these reliability deficits. Transport Action Canada has reached out to Siemens Mobility to inquire about the remedies being implemented to address these ongoing issues, but responses have been lacking.
With a significant investment of over a billion dollars in these new trains, stakeholders expect reliable performance under all weather conditions. It is crucial for Siemens Mobility to ensure that the operational challenges are resolved promptly.
Future Commitments
Additionally, concerns have been raised about the reliability of trains supplied to Ontario Northland. Addressing these issues proactively will be vital to maintaining trust in Siemens Mobility’s capacity as a premier railway engineering provider.
