Send this page to someone via emailTransport Minister Steven MacKinnon said Wednesday he hopes Ottawa’s $1.9 billion investment in replacing Via Rail’s locomotive fleet and building a train assembly plant will lead to better rail service for Canadians. Today’s announcement gives us the tools we need to do better by our passengers,” Via Rail CEO Mathieu Paquette said. A Via Rail spokesperson later said the amount of effort required to maintain the fleet “grows exponentially” as it ages. The new trains will replace Via Rail’s fleet across the country, except for the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, where the federal government is planning the Alto high-speed rail line. “More broadly, we expect Via Rail to improve its customer service experience, and improve its reliability track record,” he said.