Equipment
Each train consists of a General Motors/ EMD F59PHI diesel-electric locomotive and between five and ten Bombardier BiLevel passenger carriages. West Coast Express also operates a MPI MP36PH-3C for backup. The total fleet of passenger coaches is 44. Each passenger carriage has a seating capacity of 144 people. Like many commuter railways, West Coast Express uses push-pull operation; instead of moving the locomotive to the other end of the train, it is simply controlled remotely from a second cab in the last passenger carriage, allowing the train to run 'backwards'; this occurs during mornings, as during afternoons the locomotive is at the front of train. Passenger amenities include washrooms, a cappuccino bar, power outlets, wheelchair accessibility, and space for bicycles.
The carriages and locomotives are maintained by Via Rail, and the train tracks belong to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) who is also the operator of the service. Track time is negotiated with the CPR, which balances the use by the West Coast Express with its mainstay freight operation.
Read more about this topic: West Coast Express
Famous quotes containing the word equipment:
“At the heart of the educational process lies the child. No advances in policy, no acquisition of new equipment have their desired effect unless they are in harmony with the child, unless they are fundamentally acceptable to him.”
—Central Advisory Council for Education. Children and Their Primary Schools (Plowden Report)
“Dr. Scofield’s equipment, which you have just seen, radiated waves direct to Professor Houghland’s laboratory. When these waves came in contact with those the professor’s equipment was radiating, they created the interstellar frequency, which is the death ray.”
—Joseph O’Donnell, and Clifford Sanforth. Arthur Perry (Bela Lugosi)
“Biological possibility and desire are not the same as biological need. Women have childbearing equipment. For them to choose not to use the equipment is no more blocking what is instinctive than it is for a man who, muscles or no, chooses not to be a weightlifter.”
—Betty Rollin (b. 1936)