Battery of tests ahead before Metro Line LRT runs at full capacity

The final deadline for Thales Canada to deliver the completed signal system for the Metro LRT Line has passed, but the city can’t say when it will finish its own testing to determine if it is satisfied with the company’s work.

Exactly five years after the city first announced delays with the system’s implementation, Thales declared the system is ready for service Tuesday, functioning with “no major deficiencies.”

But city administration said it will continue to test the signalling program for “a number of months” before determining that the line can run at full capacity.

And that means, starting in the new year, Edmontonians can expect system-wide LRT closures for about one-and-a-half days each month until the testing is complete, though a lot of tests will be run during times the trains don’t normally operate.

“They may be confident in their work, but we have to do our own due diligence to determine if the Thales system has passed, and they’ve met their contractual obligations,” said Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services at a news conference Tuesday.

Thales won the bid to build the new signalling system following a tender process in 2011. Work was supposed to be finished by December 2013 but, following years of delay, the city issued a notice of default against the company in May.

The city has held off paying Thales an outstanding $22 million, which would be paid if it’s determined Thales met the conditions of its contract. However, Laughlin said both sides have “claims” that are still being determined.

Laughlin said some of the challenges identified earlier include alignment of trains on the tracks, and timing of gate arms and bells at intersections.

City council previously directed city administration to pursue a backup signal system while finalizing the testing with Thales.

Thales representatives will be present to observe the city’s battery of tests, said the company’s vice-president of operations Dave Beckley.

“We’re pretty confident. We know that a good portion of the system has been in service for over three years,” Beckley said.

A third-party safety expert was called in to deal with the disagreement, and Thales contends the public wasn’t in danger because its fallback safety system wasn’t compromised. The company also said software upgrades will prevent the issues from repeating.

Beckley has previously said the system has been ready to go since August, and has spoken to Postmedia about some of the unexpected challenges that came up while the system was being worked on.

Thales works on trains around the world, in places like Hong Kong and London, and Beckley said that every project has its challenges, but acknowledged the Metro Line has had a “few more” than is typical. Still, he said, even with the benefit of hindsight, the company would still have pursued the project.

“We might hope for a quicker or different outcome, but I can’t see anything that’s gone on that would turn Thales away from a system like this,” he said.

We have to do our own due diligence.

ADAM LAUGHLIN