LRC (train)

LRC (train)

The LRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Léger, Rapide, et Confortable, the name of a series of lightweight diesel-powered passenger trains that were used on short- to medium-distance inter-city service in the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The LRC family includes both locomotives and passenger carriages designed to work together, though the two can be, and now are, used separately.

LRC was designed to run with power cars at both ends and provide 125 mph (201 km/h) service on non-upgraded railway routes. To accomplish this, the LRC passenger cars feature active-tilt technology to reduce the forces on the passengers when a train travels at high speeds around a curve in the railway tracks. LRCs have reached speeds as high as 130 mph (209 km/h) on test runs.

On its only regular service route, on the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, wear concerns, signalling issues and conflicts with heavy slower moving freight trains limit this to 100 mph (161 km/h) or less. For service at these speeds, a single power car was used. Special signage allowed the LRC to run at higher speeds than normal traffic across a great portion of the Corridor when the tilt system was enabled.

Although the last LRC locomotive was removed from service on 12 December 2001, the passenger cars are still in widespread use and form the backbone of Via Rail's services, albeit with the tilt system disabled The same basic car forms the basis of the Acela Express in the U.S., and the tilt mechanism was re-developed as the FLEXX Eco for use in the more recent design British Class 221.