Preferred Proponent Teams Selected for Ontario Line South, RSSOM Contracts

Artist’s rendering showing an aerial view of Ontario Line’s Exhibition Station on Toronto’s west side. (Image Courtesy of Metrolinx)

Canada’s Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on Sept. 14 announced the preferred proponent teams to deliver the South Civil, Stations and Tunnel (South) and Rolling Stock, Systems, Operations and Maintenance (RSSOM) contracts for the 9.7-mile (15.6-kilometer) Ontario Line, a planned Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) rapid transit line linking the Ontario Science Center and Exhibition/Ontario Place.

The standalone Ontario Line, half of which will be underground, will include 15 stations, and more than 40 connections to other transit routes, including GO Transit lines, existing TTC subway and streetcar lines, the under-construction Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit, and bus services (see map below).

For the Ontario Line South contract, the preferred proponent team is Ontario Transit Group, comprising applicant lead Ferrovial Construction Canada Inc. and VINCI Construction Grands Projects; design team of AECOM Canada Ltd., COWI North America Ltd., GHD Limited, and SENER Group; construction team of Ferrovial Construction Canada Inc. and Janin Atlas Inc.; and financial advisor Agentis Capital.

The scope of work for the South contract covers:

• A design-build-finance contract for the southern portion of the Ontario Line, from Exhibition/Ontario Place to the Don Yard portal (west of the Don River).
• Civil: ground works required to build the tunnels and stations; utility and conduit works to prepare for the RSSOM mechanical and electrical systems; and guideway structures and facilities to prepare for the track structure to be installed by the RSSOM contractor.
• Stations: one above-ground station to be integrated with the existing GO Transit Exhibition Station; two underground stations to be integrated with the existing TTC Osgoode and Queen subway stations; and four new underground stations (King/Bathurst, Queen/Spadina, Moss Park, Corktown).
• Tunnel: a 3.7-mile (6 kilometer) tunnel and all associated tunneling works from Exhibition to Don Yard portal (west of Don River).

For the Ontario Line RSSOM contract, the preferred proponent team is Connect 6ix, comprising applicant lead Plenary Americas, Hitachi Rail, Webuild Group (Salini Impreglio Canada Holding Inc.), and Transdev Canada Inc.; design team of Hitachi Rail and IBI Group Professional Services (Canada) Inc.; construction team of Hitachi Rail, Webuild Group (Astaldi Canada Design & Construction Inc. and Salini Impreglio Civil Works Inc.), and NGE Contracting Inc.; operations, maintenance and rehabilitation team of Hitachi Rail and Transdev Canada Inc.; and financial advisors National Bank Financial Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The RSSOM scope of work covers:

• A design-build-finance-operate-maintain contract for the entire Ontario Line, for a 30-year term.
• Rolling Stock: design, supply, operate and maintain the trains.
• Systems: design, build, operate and maintain all track, communications (e.g., network, Wi-Fi, CCTV, passenger information) and train control systems for the Ontario Line.
• Design, build, operate and maintain the Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility (where the vehicles are stored); Operations Control Center (where staff control train operations and are connected to TTC and GO Transit systems); and Backup Operations Control Center.
• Working with TTC in accordance with future operations and maintenance agreements.
• Integrating fare equipment with the PRESTO system.

Ontario Transit Group and Connect 6ix each ranked first after the evaluation of the respective requests for proposals received in June 2022, according to Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx, which reported they “will continue negotiations to finalize contract details with these teams and expect to award both contracts later this year.”

The C$10.9 billion Ontario Line project is being delivered via various contracts, procured through P3 and traditional procurement models. According to Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx, procurements for North civil major works as well as enabling works for bridge, track and other preparatory activities will follow.

Metrolinx on March 27 broke ground at Exhibition Station, the western terminus of the Ontario Line. The groundbreaking at Exhibition Station, located on the GO Transit Lakeshore West Line, one stop west of Toronto Union Station, and the location of the Exhibition Loop on the TTC’s 509 and 511 streetcar lines, marked “the start of construction for a new subway line that will support the delivery of better and faster transit for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),” Metrolinx, the GTA’s regional transit agency, noted.