CANADA: Transport agency Metrolinx has finalised the Operations & Maintenance contract for GO Transit passenger rail services in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area.
The contract has been agreed with the ONxpress Operations Inc partnership of Deutsche Bahn International Operations (72%) and Aecon Group (28%), which was named as the winning bidder in 2022 and announced that the deal has been finalised on January 24.
The contract has been awarded as part of the wider GO Expansion programme for the ONxpress equally-owned consortium of DB IO, Aecon Group, Alstom and FCC to transform the area’s rail services with electrification, all-day services and an enhanced passenger experience.
The O&M contract is to run for 23 years from January 1 2025 and covers train operation and maintenance, service planning and maintenance of signalling and future electrification equipment.
CEO of DB IO’s parent company DB ECO Group Niko Warbanoff said ’we are delighted to engage in collaboration together with Metrolinx on this transformative endeavour and look forward to contributing significantly to the advancement of Ontario’s transportation infrastructure’.
DB IO said profits generated from its activities abroad are used to strengthen the railways in Germany, and the knowledge gained is shared with all other DB units; it said the Toronto project would help inform the modernisation and digitalisation of rail hubs in major German cities.
- Matt Clark, Chief Capital Officer at Metrolinx, described the GO Expansion programme in detail in the August 2022 issue of Railway Gazette International.
