Another ION delay, but some good news is about a month away

The planned launch of the ION was just months away, but has now been pushed to Spring 2018.

The Region currently does not have a train that is functional, but that wasn’t a huge set back, as the number one train’s intended use was to check tolerances at the storage facility.

Fear not because the number two train, or the test drive vehicle is soon to be delivered.” Once that vehicle is in working order, all the other vehicles will fall in place, but if you extrapolate out from there the time table does become very tight,” said Regional Councillor and Chair of the LRT committee, Tom Galloway.

The order for these trains was put in over four years ago, in July 2013, and even if the Region wanted to switch to another manufacturer it is just not that easy, ” you just can’t switch out vehicles the system has been built for this particular vehicle, the stations particularly are designed for the various dimensions of this specific vehicle it would be very expensive to switch,” Galloway says.

Experts have told the Region that starting service with less then the full amount of trains, would be detrimental to ridership, but Galloway says this won’t have to happen if “the number two vehicle comes and it functions well, and it goes out on the track and GrandLinq is able to do its work with the vehicle the subsequent vehicles will fall in place very quickly, it is this number two vehicle, as it turns out, that is critical.”

Galloway adds that the number two vehicle is being tested under its own power in Kingston and that the train should be delivered sometime with in the next month.