Bombardier not renewed (alone) as GO Transit-UPX operator

[dowlingm]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/ontario- ... -1.3514362" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Excerpt:

Metrolinx said Friday that it will seek new operators to take over the suburban GO Transit and UP Express airport rail services after the current contract expires in 2023. The winning bidder to be chosen in about a year will first review the current operations by Bombardier and two other Canadian companies and then operate the services as it quadruples in size to 6,000 trains a week from 1,500.

"We really need to bring in an internationally experienced operator (or consortium) to help us do this," Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said in an interview. She said the existing operators wouldn't be able to objectively review the current service and therefore won't be eligible to bid. However, Aikins said the winning bidder wouldn't be precluded from using the services of Bombardier and the other two companies to operate and maintain the trains.

EDIT: CP runs the GO Milton service as it's on their tracks. Don't know who the "second Canadian company" mentioned is.

[Backshophoss]

Could be VIA as the second company bidding on this.

[dowlingm]

Could be VIA as the second company bidding on this.

VIA would have to be doing it with someone else's money, since they can't borrow.

[mdvle]

CP no longer runs GO Trains. GO, through Bombardier, started operating GO Trains on the Milton Line on January 1 2015.

One possibility would be PNR (track and signal maintenance) given the likely changes needed for the more frequent service.

As for the third, who runs UPExpress?

VIA wouldn't be one of the 3, and won't be directly bidding given the the requirement in the press release:

"require the resources and unique expertise of an organization with experience in operating and maintaining service to passengers during a major construction and expansion program"

[dowlingm]

Bombardier crews UPX.

[mdvle]

And we have an answer.

The 4 companies excluded from bidding are CN, CP, Bombardier, and PNR RailWorks according to article in The Globe and Mail.

The article is about Bombardier going to court to be allowed to bid on the contract:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/to ... e35996329/

[mdvle]

Bombardier and Metrolinx have worked things out.

Metrolinx will now allow bids for combined operations as well as building out the infrastructure for the increased service, and Bombardier will be allowed to bid as part of a consortium.

At the end of an article otherwise about TTC LRT delays:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transp ... delay.html

[electricron]

Bombardier and Metrolinx have worked things out.

Metrolinx will now allow bids for combined operations as well as building out the infrastructure for the increased service, and Bombardier will be allowed to bid as part of a consortium.

At the end of an article otherwise about TTC LRT delays:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transp ... delay.html

Being allowed to bid doesn’t mean they have any chance at all of winning the bid. You reap what you have sow, and Bombardier’s record of accomplishing anything on time and under budget recently has not been very, very great.

[bdawe]

But they still enjoy national-champion status, such that the Prime Minister of Canada refers to Bombardier as "us" when BBD is being sued by Boeing

[mdvle]

Bombardier and Metrolinx have come to an agreement.

The order Metrolinx has for LRT's with Bombardier is being cut from 182 vehicles to 76 (they will now just be used on the Eglinton Crosstown line).

In exchange Metrolinx has extended the contract to operate and maintain the GO Trains by 18 months.

In other news, the Alstom Citadis Spirit cars that were ordered earlier this year will be built in the Brampton area.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/1 ... -half.html

[dowlingm]

Bombardier and Metrolinx have come to an agreement.

The order Metrolinx has for LRT's with Bombardier is being cut from 182 vehicles to 76 (they will now just be used on the Eglinton Crosstown line).

In exchange Metrolinx has extended the contract to operate and maintain the GO Trains by 18 months.

In other news, the Alstom Citadis Spirit cars that were ordered earlier this year will be built in the Brampton area.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/1 ... -half.html

A shame to see Brampton benefit from LRT work after the fiasco its well heeled grandees like Bill Davis caused regarding the Hurontario line.