Local union presses province on HSR-run LRT amid timeline crunch

Union opposition to private LRT operations is ramping up across southern Ontario as the province ponders whether to allow city workers to operate light rail transit in Hamilton.

ATU Local 107 has waged a public battle to convince politicians to allow the HSR to run a 14-kilometre LRT, rather than a private consortium preferred by Metrolinx.

Council agreed in late August to ask the province to allow a municipally run LRT. Two months later, the province and Metrolinx haven’t formally responded, throwing the original project timeline into doubt.

“It’s time for Metrolinx and the province to come out of hiding and state their intentions,” said local transit union president Eric Tuck, who attended a rally at Metrolinx headquarters in Toronto Tuesday along with dozens of fellow ATU members from Mississauga, Brampton and Toronto — cities with new rapid transit on the way.

It’s unclear how the delay will affect the original plan to award a Hamilton LRT project tender in 2018 and finish construction by 2024. City LRT head Paul Johnson said if the province rejects the HSR request, Metrolinx can still move ahead and issue a request for proposals “within the current project timeline.”

If LRT operations are pulled from the proposed contract, however, Metrolinx would need at least another four months to rejig the procurement process.

The Ministry of Transportation said via email an update is expected “in the coming weeks” and reiterated it still expects major construction on the project to begin in 2019.

Liberal Hamilton MPP Ted McMeekin said he spoke to Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca Tuesday and was told the province is “looking hard and looking seriously” at the feasibility of a locally run LRT.

This involves an evaluation of the “competitive” ramifications on the project and a comparative look at the success or failure of similar scenarios in other cities, he said.