Province building railway between Union and Pearson

A provincial agency will now build a rail link between Union Station and the city’s  international airport after a deal with a private company collapsed.

Metrolinx, a provincial transportation agency responsible for the Toronto and Hamilton area, will now own and operate the rail link.   

The deal was originally granted seven years ago to Montreal-based construction firm SNC-Lavalin.

The firm blamed the economy for the deal falling through, saying investors were reluctant to lend money to the $300-million project.

Metrolinx president, Bob Pritchard, told 680News having his provincial agency do the work makes more sense.

“The province will have control of the project and we can adjust the service and the pricing and the technology without having to work through a third-party private sector partner.”

Pritchard added his agency should be able to save taxpayers’ a little bit of cash.

“[..] We can use some of our existing facilities like our maintenance yard – Lavalin would have had to build its own maintenance yard – so there’s a synergy in using our existing facilities.”

The province said the rail link should ready in time for the Pan Am Games in 2015.

The train, from Union to Pearson, is expected to take 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, the province has purchased four tunnel boring machines from Lovat Inc. of Toronto for an underground tunnel which will be used to eventually connect Kennedy Station to Pearson International Airport.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today