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LA POCATIÈRE — The Bombardier transportation plant in La Pocatière has won another reprieve: Via Rail has awarded it a $54 million contract to modernize part of its fleet of cars that date back to the 1950s.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon by the federal Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, and chief executive of Via, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano.

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The plant was at risk of closing, with the termination of the STM contract for its Azur métro trains at the end of 2018. In addition, Bombardier lost the bid to construct rolling stock for the Caisse de dépôt’s $6.3-billion electric commuter train network (REM). The $630-million contract went to competitor Alstom, Bombardier’s chief rival, which is based in France.

That failed bid jeopardized as many as half of the 600 jobs at the La Pocatière plant, about 150 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

Via’s contract aims to make cars fully accessible to people with disabilities. Each reconfigured car will be equipped with two wheelchair lifts, two accessible spaces with anchors, display screens in the passenger area and in the washroom, and an accessible toilet.