Province inks deal with Ontario Northland for GO Transit rail car refurbishment

The province and Ontario Northland have signed a $350M deal to refurbish more than 120 GO Transit cars at the North Bay railyard.

The Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Northland Transportation Commission have agreed to a $350 million deal where workers at the railyard will refurbish more than 120 GO Transit cars at the North Bay railyard.

“The tools, the training, the employees that we have right here, it makes a lot of business sense and a lot of sense for the Ontario government to support this partnership,” said Ontario Northland CEO Chad Evans.

Ontario Northland staff have already started stripping down and touching up transit commuter cars.

The deal is part of a larger ongoing service expansion across the GO rail network that aims to support economic growth in northern Ontario.

It will also protect hundreds of manufacturing jobs at the rail yard for “multiple years,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation.

“We have close to 900 bi-level trains and we look at this facility as a key part of not just this, but for the future as well to play a significant, significant role.”

The coaches require a mid-life refurbishment. Each rail car will be equipped with an upgraded interior design including new seating, flooring, walls, and ceilings.

“These cars will also see structural improvements to its side sills, the installation of new doors and HVAC control systems as well as upgrades to the washrooms,” Evans added.

The MTO expects that refurbishing the coaches will extend their life by at least 20 years.

“Across Canada and across North America, Ontario is starting to build a great, I would say, reputation for refurbishing available cars,” Sarkaria said.

He said the work done at Ontario Northland goes hand-in-hand with the MTO’s ambitious GO expansion program, which aims to deliver two-way, all-day service to stops throughout southern Ontario, including to Oshawa, Burlington, Kitchener, Stouffville and Barrie.

In April 2022, Ontario Northland signed a $109 million contract with the Ontario government agency Metrolinx to restore dozens of GO train cars in North Bay, which ended up creating dozens of new jobs.

Ontario Northland staff are also refurbishing several F59 locomotives the province recently purchased from Metrolink, Southern California’s Regional Rail Authority.

These 13 additional locomotives will be used to provide GO Transit with operational support and spare parts.