VIA Rail finishes C$310 million Toronto hub with early fault detection

VIA Rail finishes C$310 million Toronto hub with early fault detection VIA Rail has completed a C$310 million, federally funded modernization of its Toronto Maintenance Centre, adding heavy-maintenance equipment and an early fault detection system to support its new Corridor fleet. The Government of Canada paid for the four-year project, which VIA Rail says was delivered on budget. The upgraded centre is designed to support the reliability, performance and service life of the 32 bidirectional trainsets in the new Corridor fleet, and it will keep servicing VIA’s existing equipment. Construction supported up to 475 jobs in skilled trades and construction, and more than 80% of the project’s content was Canadian, the company said. VIA says the centre will go on sustaining nearly 240 permanent jobs over its lifecycle. One site for work around the whole train VIA describes the upgrade as turning an aging facility into a high-performance maintenance hub. Maintenance bays and inspection platforms were expanded, and the preventive and corrective maintenance tracks can now take trainsets of up to 10 cars. Under-track pits and work platforms at roof and car level let crews work around a train in one integrated location. Heavier jobs are covered by a stand-alone wheel lathe and a bogie drop table. Upgraded yard tracks are designed to improve train movements and reduce operational bottlenecks. At the fuel plant, new sanding, windshield-washer-fluid and diesel-exhaust-fluid systems serve both current and next-generation equipment. Early fault detection with VEMS The centre also gained a new Vehicle Equipment Measurement System (VEMS), which tracks equipment condition in real time, runs diagnostics and detects faults early. VIA says the system will help cut unplanned downtime, extend asset life and keep more trains available for service as the railway moves toward predictive, data-driven maintenance. Mathieu Paquette, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail Canada, said: “This facility gives our teams the infrastructure and technology they need to maintain our trains more efficiently, improve fleet availability and support a more reliable, accessible and comfortable experience for our passengers.” Construction timeline since 2022 VIA awarded the Toronto construction contract to Buttcon Limited of Concord, Ontario, in November 2022, using funding provided in the 2018 federal budget. That same month, the first train of the new Corridor fleet carried its first passengers. Work on site started with a groundbreaking in July 2023, when VIA set 2026 as the completion date. VIA places the Toronto project within a broader transformation that also covers the new Corridor fleet, the renewal of its long-distance, regional and remote fleet and projects such as the Dorval Multimodal Hub. Transport Canada notes on Siemens Venture reliability The new Corridor fleet consists of Siemens Venture trainsets. In briefing material dated February 23, 2026, Transport Canada recorded an increase in mechanical breakdowns, such as loss of head-end power, as more Venture sets entered Corridor service, leaving trains immobilized and passengers stranded. The major delays it listed for December 2025 and January 2026 included mechanical failures that held VIA trains for roughly 3 to 13 hours, and the material’s suggested responses stated an expectation that VIA Rail improve the trainsets’ reliability.