A glimpse of actual progress teased the passenger rail industry July 6 when the Canadian government unveiled previously obscure details of its long-running High Frequency Rail (HFR) program.
Toronto-area regional transit agency Metrolinx has opened the Bloomington GO Station, part of the Richmond Hill Line; the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) has launched a real-time digital signage pilot program; the Utah Transit Authority Board of Trustees has approved a new contract with the Utah Division of Air Quality for “free fare days,” according to the Daily Herald; and VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) will increase service on the Québec City-Windsor corridor starting July 12.
Construction has officially begun on Ontario’s $4.5 billion (C$5.5 billion), three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, following a June 23 groundbreaking ceremony.
The province of Ontario, Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (Ontario Northland) and Metrolinx are advancing plans to reinstate Northlander passenger rail service, with the release of an Initial Business Case.
Now that Bombardier Transportation’s North American assets and operations are fully integrated into Alstom, major customers, particularly those in Canada, apparently are feeling more confident in continuing investments in rail transit rolling stock, as evidenced by an order for 60 Flexity streetcars for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and refurbishments of GO Transit bi-level commuter railcars.
The Ontario, Canada, government and Metrolinx have released a Preliminary Design Business Case for the Kitchener GO Rail Service Expansion Project, plus a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to add new station platforms and upgrade track between Georgetown and Kitchener.
Thales has launched new CBTC (communications-based train control) and real-time passenger density systems, and partnered with Invision AI and Metrolinx to develop technology that allows trains to track potential obstacles.
Metrolinx has released an Initial Business Case (IBC) and supplementary analysis for the 8-kilometer (4.97-mile) Yonge North Subway Extension that will bring the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) existing Line 1 subway to the cities of Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill.
Excavation work on the second tunnel is complete, the Ontario, Canada government reports.
Mosaic Transit Group (MTG) has awarded Bombardier Transportation a 30-year contract to maintain light rail vehicles and wayside track and catenary systems for the new C$2.5 billion (US$1.95 billion) Finch West LRT project in northwest Toronto. The 11-km (6.8-mile) line is a P3 of Infrastructure Ontario; Metrolinx; and MTG, a joint venture of ACS Infrastructure and AECON that has a DBFM (design, build, finance, maintain) contract.