Second Ion train coming, two more expected next month

WATERLOO REGION — The second Ion train is going to ship from Kingston next Monday, and it is expected to be functional enough to test on tracks.

Regional officials met with Bombardier on Monday to express their concerns over train delivery delays for the region’s light rail transit project, regional Coun. Tom Galloway said.

That was when they got the news that another train will soon be on its way. It is expected to ship on Monday and will take about 10 days to arrive. Galloway said local officials were also told two more trains are expected to arrive next month.

“That gives GrandLinq three trains that are much more advanced than the one we have,” Galloway, the regional councillor on the rapid transit steering committee, said.

“These are not complete trains,” Galloway noted.

GrandLinq, the consortium hired to build the light rail transit system, will need to do some additional work on the new trains before the system can be tested on test tracks, he explained.

Train testing will run from the Northfield stop to north of the intersection of Caroline and Erb streets. Galloway said people will probably be able to see the trains in action as they are being tested next month.

Train testing is expected to take a few months. GrandLinq has already started testing signals at railway crossings.

The region’s second, more functional Ion train was supposed to get here in June, but at the time Bombardier said it needed more time to work on the train at its Kingston plant.

This highly-anticipated light rail transit system was supposed to be running by late 2017, but the project’s start date was pushed to spring 2018 because of delays.

The first train was made in Thunder Bay and arrived in February after being delayed by Bombardier twice. Incomplete operating software in that first train meant GrandLinq could

not begin train testing.

It added to mounting frustration as the region was forced to push back LRT’s launch date to early 2018.

A total of 14 Bombardier trains are expected to arrive to complete the project. The first phase of the region’s LRT system will run on 19 kilometres of track from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener.

Galloway said regional officials asked Bombardier for a face-to-face meeting so they can adequately express their concerns over continuous train delivery delays.

Galloway said with the news of three more trains on the way, he is hopeful the region will meet the spring 2018 launch.

“This is a step in the right direction,” he said.

For more information about the region’s light rail transit project, visit the website at www.rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca.