VIA Rail Canada and contractor Pomerleau have started construction of a 100,000 sq ft assembly and maintenance facility in Montréal, funded by a C$357 million (US$251 million) federal investment and due to enter service in summer 2029.

The facility will carry out final assembly in Canada of up to 36 of the 45 battery-diesel hybrid locomotives VIA Rail has ordered from Stadler, plus testing before the units enter service. After that phase, the site will handle long-term maintenance of VIA Rail's entire new pan-Canadian fleet — the Stadler locomotives from a C$1.95 billion (US$1.37 billion) order and 313 passenger cars from a C$4.7 billion (US$3.31 billion) Alstom order.

"The start of construction of this new assembly and maintenance facility marks an important milestone in the renewal of VIA Rail's pan-Canadian fleet," said VIA Rail President and CEO Mathieu Paquette. "This new facility will enable us to provide our passengers with reliable, modern and safe service while also strengthening Canada's rail expertise and capacity for decades to come."

What does the facility change for maintenance?

The site integrates into VIA Rail's existing Montréal Maintenance Center, a design choice the operator says will leverage current infrastructure and the skills of its technical teams. Locating assembly and fleet-wide maintenance in one place ties the new-build programme directly to the workforce that will sustain it after delivery.

Pomerleau frames the scale of the job in historical terms. "This new facility represents VIA Rail's largest construction project in Montréal in nearly 40 years," said Pomerleau President and CEO Philippe Adam. "Beyond the delivery of this landmark project, we are bringing together the expertise of our teams and partners to create a lasting piece of infrastructure that will benefit future generations."

Construction timeline and workforce

Site excavation is underway and runs through January 2027, with foundation work scheduled to begin in mid-January. At peak construction, up to 200 workers will be on site.

The schedule targets operational readiness by summer 2029, timed to the start of Canadian assembly of the first Stadler locomotives — a linkage that makes the construction deadline a fleet-delivery deadline as well.

How the numbers stack up

The wider programme is large by any North American passenger-rail standard:

• C$357 million (US$251 million): the new Montréal facility
• C$1.95 billion (US$1.37 billion): Stadler locomotive order
• C$4.7 billion (US$3.31 billion): Alstom order covering 313 passenger cars
• C$6.7 billion (US$4.71 billion): total federal investment in fleet renewal and the new facility, according to VIA Rail

VIA Rail presents these figures as operator statements; the assembly volume of up to 36 locomotives means at least nine of the 45 hybrid units will be completed elsewhere unless plans change.

With excavation already running and foundations set to follow in mid-January, the project's next measurable checkpoint is the January 2027 excavation deadline — nine months of earthworks that must finish on time for the 2029 assembly start to hold.