GO train maintenance contractor, panned by Metrolinx, gets $1.3 billion extension anyways
Alstom will remain the operator and maintainer of our GO trains for another five years
Ontario has extended its contract with French rail company Alstom for work on the GO train network, even after a leaked report showed Metrolinx was losing confidence in their work.
On Tuesday, the Trillium reported that a draft internal strategy document from Metrolinx cast serious doubts on Alstom’s ability to maintain the GO trains in its charge. The report alleged Alstom was struggling with a massive backlog of train repairs and upgrades, and was reportedly making such slow progress that Metrolinx had to send in its own staff to help.
Related: The GO trains are falling apart, a leaked report says
One suggestion in the report was for Metrolinx to seek out a different partner for the work, with the agency writing it was “inconceivable that the current maintainer can recover the condition of the fleet.”
Evidently, the province didn’t take the Metrolinx report’s authors up on that. Instead, Alstom will get $1.3 billion to operate and maintain the GO transit network for another five years, reports the Toronto Star.
This isn’t the first time Metrolinx and the province have paid massive sums of money to companies they don’t get along with: lest we forget that the builders of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT managed to wring $562 million out of the province after suing Metrolinx twice.
Related: A timeline of every single Eglinton Crosstown disaster, from 2010 until today
This Alstom deal comes on the heels of another failed Metrolinx partnership, this time with Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national rail company, and Aecon Group, a Canadian construction firm. A consortium led by the two was supposed to take over Alstom’s responsibilities in 2024, but Metrolinx abruptly scrapped the deal. In the confusion, many experienced Alstom employees quit, and the GO network has felt their absence ever since.
This much-diminished Alstom is the company Metrolinx is once again trusting with the GO train fleet. Let’s hope it’s a happy marriage this time—our commutes depend on it.
Anthony Milton is a freelance journalist based in Toronto specializing in long-form magazine writing. He previously worked as an assistant editor at Toronto Life, where he launched the Front Row newsletter. He regularly contributes all sorts of stories to the magazine, including deep dives on sports, business and housing as well as short-form commentary on our ever-changing city, from its obsession with cherry blossoms to its maddening NIMBYism. His work has also appeared in Maclean’s, Ricochet, TVO, the Trillium and more.
