City needs to work with us: Thales
LRT signalling contractor says it is ‘disappointed’ by notice of default
Edmonton’s signalling contractor Thales Canada issued a statement Wednesday criticizing recent city actions and saying a fix for the Metro Line LRT will demand ongoing co-operation from city officials.
“Thales was disappointed to receive the city’s notice and by the comments made by the city at their press conference last week,” said Cara Salci, spokeswoman for the company in a statement issued by email Wednesday morning.
Salci said the company has issued a new roadmap and schedule for completing the work.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, City of Edmonton officials said they are evaluating the response. “Next steps will be decided once the assessment is complete.”
Neither party would said what the new deadline is to have the line working properly.
Edmonton’s Metro Line LRT extension to NAIT still isn’t running properly through the downtown tunnel, which has meant a loss of frequency on the original Capital Line for northside customers.
The city issued a “notice of default” in the contract last week, alleging Thales Canada has failed to live up its commitments.
That’s step one under the rules of the contract toward ending the city ’s relationship with the company. In the statement, Thales said: “We have been making significant and measured progress towards completion, despite substantial hurdles that have been placed in front of us. ”
It said completion of the project will “demand full co-operation from the city.”
“Thales is optimistic that it will receive such co-operation and Edmontonians will very soon enjoy the full benefits of this advanced system.”
Last week, Edmonton’s head of infrastructure Adam Laughlin said his team is studying whether they can use the old, fixed-block system from the original Capital Line to get the train working properly without Thales’ high-tech, proprietary technology.
He said he aims to have the situation with the Metro Line LRT resolved by the end of this year.