Leary takes TTC throttle
Rick Leary has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), following an earlier recommendation by the board. He was chosen from a lengthy list of Canadian and international applicants.
Rick Leary has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), following an earlier recommendation by the board. He was chosen from a lengthy list of Canadian and international applicants.
The Ontario Provincial Government—now run by Premier Doug Ford, brother of the late Rob Ford, Toronto’s scandal-plagued former mayor— is planning to take over Toronto’s subway and Scarborough Rapid Transit system, currently owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, totaling 48 route-miles.
Major changes are in store for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Hillcrest Complex, the traditional nerve center of its operations. A recently completed report examined the future of the complex, which is being affected by technological changes. It was prompted, in part, by the impending partial redundancy of two major buildings. But though significant changes are coming down the track, Hillcrest Complex, will continue playing a major part in TTC’s operations, as it has for almost a century.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) recently suffered another setback in the delivery of its much-delayed 204-unit Flexity Outlook LRV order. Carbuilder Bombardier Transportation has advised the TTC that 67 of the LRVs have frames that were improperly welded at the company’s Sahagun, Mexico plant. A Bombardier spokesperson stressed that the welding deficiencies do not represent a safety issue (most of the cars involved are presently in service), but could become issues later in the cars’ expected 30-year life spans.
The past few years have admittedly been tough for Bombardier Transportation in North America. Changing dynamics—in particular, China’s entrance into the vehicle market—combined with delivery and quality problems and highly public squabbles with key Canadian and U.S. customers—have impacted the company’s business as well as its reputation. Now, however, Bombardier’s fortunes appear to be turning around.
As of late March 2018, only one further heavy rail subway has been approved in Toronto, following the opening of the Toronto Transit Commission Line 1 Vaughan Extension.
The TTC’s Vaughan subway extension officially opened for passengers on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, almost a decade after construction began in February 2008. The 5.30-mile line represents the first rapid transit operation outside the existing city of Toronto, into the northwestern suburb of Vaughan.
The roller-coaster-ride story of the Toronto Transit Commission’s 204-unit Bombardier Flexity Outlook LRV order appears to be leveling off.
On Dec. 15, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ontario Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, Toronto Transit Commission CEO Andy Byford and other officials to open the TTC’s 8.6 km (5.3-mile) Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) of the Line 1 Yonge-University subway to the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The extension opened to the public on Dec. 17.
Andy Byford, who has forged a rail transit career on three continents, will join the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as President of New York City Transit, the agency responsible for New York City subways, buses, paratransit services and the Staten Island Railway, effective in January 2018.