Ontario LRT: ION LRV delays; Hamilton alignment adjustments

The jinx that has bedeviled timely delivery of Toronto’s new low-floor LRVs has now struck the Kitchener-Waterloo ION LRT, presently under construction. Meanwhile, the final alignment for Hamilton’s new B Line LRT is close to confirmation.

Bombardier, the carbuilder for the ION system, has advised Region of Waterloo officials of a second delay in the delivery of the first LRV.

Originally, the first Flexity Freedom LRV was promised for delivery in August 2016. In April of this year Bombardier advised it would instead arrive in October. Then, on May 19, the supplier pushed the date back to December 2016. Bombardier, until these recent announcements, had been promising on-time delivery. The 14-unit order, valued at C$92.4 million, was piggybacked onto a Metrolinx order for approximately 170 cars for the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT routes in Toronto, and potentially other projects such as Mississauga’s. Waterloo Region also has an option for an additional 14 LRVs for the contemplated but unapproved extension to Cambridge, the city that adjoins Kitchener-Waterloo.

It had been hoped to begin vehicle testing and operator training this fall. The construction consortium, GrandLinq (Plenary Group Canada, Meridiam Infrastructure Waterloo, Aecon, Kiewit, Mass Electric Construction Canada, Keolis, STV Canada Construction, AECOM, CIBC World Markets), has been working toward having a two-mile section of private right-of-way ready for this purpose. The overall LRT project is required to be substantially complete by July 1, 2017. Opening of the line, originally planned for December 2017, has now been tentatively rescheduled to Spring 2018.

Bombardier attributes the delay to its decision to transfer construction of the Metrolinx order to its Kingston, Ontario plant from the main Thunder Bay facility. The eastern Ontario plant will have to set up an LRV production line, and bring in skilled workers to staff it, as LRV work has been concentrated in Thunder Bay and the Concarrill plant Mexico until now.

There are financial implications for Waterloo Region if the line’s opening is delayed significantly, as payments to GrandLinq come due in late 2017, when the first revenue trains were originally scheduled to commence operation. In the contract with Bombardier, the penalty for late delivery is C$1,500 per car daily ), to a maximum of C$3.3 million. The Region has the option of seeking additional damages.

The Toronto Transit Comission has launched a lawsuit of $50 million against Bombardier for late delivery of its low-floor LRVs. As of late May 2016 only about 20 were on the property, vs. approximately 70 as specified in the contract. Promised delivery dates have slipped continuously.

Meanwhile, construction-related activity is evident along virtually all sections of the 12-mile ION LRT.

On-street reserved track installation is in progress both north and south of downtown Kitchener, as of mid-2016. Private right-of-way rail is being installed on a side of the road alignment alongside Courtland Avenue in South Kitchener; the section from here to the terminal at Fairview Park Mall on a former power line right-of-way has been graded, ready for track; and track construction on the CN Huron Park Spur roadbed awaits only the relocation of the existing track about 50-100 feet westward to allow the LRT steel to go down.

In downtown Kitchener and downtown Waterloo, utilities relocation is under way on Duke and King Streets, respectively, prior to track construction.

One of the most important aspects of the LRT project, a new underpass beneath the east-west Metrolinx (ex-CN) main line in downtown Kitchener is well advanced. The bridge structure that will take two tracks across King Street is essentially complete, thanks to a huge, tent-like heated enclosure that permitted work to continue during the 2015 – 2016 winter.

Excavation is in full swing for the ramps on either side, to be followed by placement of concrete block retaining walls, pouring of the floor structure and station platforms, and track installation.

About two miles of the former CN Elmira Spur, now owned by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, has been repurposed for the LRT, although freight train operation will continue after the LRV service ends for the night. Almost all the new double-track has been laid, while catenary and substation installation is proceeding rapidly. The station platforms on this section are essentially finished.

Construction is in progress for the northern terminal station at Conestogo Mall. It is situated off-street, on mall property, as is the southern terminus at Fairview Park Mall.

Progress in Hamilton

A significantly modified design of Hamilton, Ontario’s approved B Line LRT was recently presented to the city’s LRT Subcommittee at a public meeting. The plan was prepared by the project’s consulting engineering firm, working in concert with Metrolinx (which is financing the LRT to a ceiling of C$1 billion) and Hamilton’s LRT project office.

The original engineering concept prepared several years ago had the LRT following a curbside alignment along the length of the King Street section, which represents approximately half of the east-west route. Instead, the tracks have been shifted to the center of the street for virtually the entire distance from McMaster Terminal to Queenston Circle.

In the International Village area in the eastern section of downtown Hamilton, King Street is quite narrow for about six blocks, due to sidewalk widenings. Through here the LRT will continue on reserved track, and one traffic lane will be provided for unidirectional road traffic.

The short spur on James Street North, approximately one mile in length, will become a mixed-traffic operation, at least for the present. This street is four lanes wide, and it was felt that banning parking would severely impact local stores and restaurants if the tracks were on a reservation through here.

The Delta Station, where King Street intersects Main Street, has been dropped from the plan as being redundant.

Paul Johnson, the city’s LRT project office coordinator, stated that the design had to be locked in by September 2016, in order that detailed engineering design work could begin, leading up to contract tendering in 2017. He emphasized, though, that “tweaking” of the design, based on anticipated public and Council feedback, was possible until the deadline.

Johnson also advised that four sites were currently being investigated for the Maintenance and Storage Facility, and that a decision on a location would be announced this coming September.

A PDF of the May 2016 B Line project update is available at the link below.