While work progressed on the LRC, the Canadian government was in the initial stages of fulfilling an election promise made by Pierre Trudeau in 1974 to implement a nationwide carrier similar to Amtrak in the U.S. Although they agreed in principle to buy the LRC in 1975, purchase of the LRC was put on hold while the newly forming Via Rail was set up.
CN, which had been wanting to rid itself of passenger service since the late 1960s, started passing off its existing passenger rolling stock to Via starting in 1976.

In the meantime, in January 1977 Amtrak signed a $10 million lease agreement for two locomotives with five coaches each, with an option to buy the trains at any time, or return them after the two years were up.
Amtrak was in the process of investigating high-speed service on their own Northeast Corridor, especially between New York City and Boston.
This portion of the line contained numerous curves, and they were investigating active tilt for at least this portion of the route.
The "LRC 1" batch for Amtrak was completed in the fall of 1980.
They ran in revenue service as Amtrak #38 and #39 (locomotives) and #40 to 49 (cars), where they were used on the Beacon Hill (New Haven-Boston) and Shoreliner (New York-Boston) services.

Amtrak declined to take over the trains and they were returned to Bombardier in 1982.
There were significant differences between these machines and the later Canadian sets, so they could not be easily mixed.
Via used the Amtrak coaches for their International service to Chicago, repainted in Via Rail colours, and renumbered 3501 to 3508, 3511 and 3512.
The locos (#38 and #39) were returned to MLW before being scrapped in 1990; the ten coaches are currently parked at Via's headquarters in Montreal.
Despite Amtrak not taking up the LRC design, there was some consideration, even at that early date, of an electric locomotive version of the same basic design.

By 1978 Via was up and running and they formalized their first order for 10 LRC locomotives and 50 coaches (numbered 3300 to 3349).
The total price for the project to this point was $90 million, less than the APT project in the U.K., and less than the successful Metroliner project in the U.S. (after being adjusted for inflation).
This order was then expanded for another 10 locomotives.
This batch of 20 became the "LRC 2" (loco numbers 6900 to 6920).
In 1981 they placed another order for 10 locomotives (6921 to 6930) and another 50 coaches (3350 to 3399), the "LRC 3" batch.
While work progressed on the LRC, the Canadian government was in the initial stages of fulfilling an election promise made by Pierre Trudeau in 1974 to implement a nationwide carrier similar to Amtrak in the U.S. Although they agreed in principle to buy the LRC in 1975, purchase of the LRC was put on hold while the newly forming Via Rail was set up. CN, which had been wanting to rid itself of passenger service since the late 1960s, started passing off its existing passenger rolling stock to Via starting in 1976.
In the meantime, in January 1977 Amtrak signed a $10 million lease agreement for two locomotives with five coaches each, with an option to buy the trains at any time, or return them after the two years were up. Amtrak was in the process of investigating high-speed service on their own Northeast Corridor, especially between New York City and Boston. This portion of the line contained numerous curves, and they were investigating active tilt for at least this portion of the route. The "LRC 1" batch for Amtrak was completed in the fall of 1980. They ran in revenue service as Amtrak #38 and #39 (locomotives) and #40 to 49 (cars), where they were used on the Beacon Hill (New Haven-Boston) and Shoreliner (New York-Boston) services.
Amtrak declined to take over the trains and they were returned to Bombardier in 1982. There were significant differences between these machines and the later Canadian sets, so they could not be easily mixed. Via used the Amtrak coaches for their International service to Chicago, repainted in Via Rail colours, and renumbered 3501 to 3508, 3511 and 3512. The locos (#38 and #39) were returned to MLW before being scrapped in 1990; the ten coaches are currently parked at Via's headquarters in Montreal. Despite Amtrak not taking up the LRC design, there was some consideration, even at that early date, of an electric locomotive version of the same basic design.
By 1978 Via was up and running and they formalized their first order for 10 LRC locomotives and 50 coaches (numbered 3300 to 3349). The total price for the project to this point was $90 million, less than the APT project in the U.K., and less than the successful Metroliner project in the U.S. (after being adjusted for inflation). This order was then expanded for another 10 locomotives. This batch of 20 became the "LRC 2" (loco numbers 6900 to 6920). In 1981 they placed another order for 10 locomotives (6921 to 6930) and another 50 coaches (3350 to 3399), the "LRC 3" batch.
LRC (train)