Connect 6ix team awarded C$9 billion Ontario Line contract
Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have awarded a C$9 billion (US$6.76 billion) contract to the Connect 6ix team to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Ontario Line Rolling Stock, Systems, Operations and Maintenance (RSSOM) package.
This is the second of two staged procurement packages awarded for the Ontario Line with Ontario Transit Group securing a C$6 billion (US$4.44 billion) package to deliver the rail project’s tunnel, seven stations and other rail infrastructure.
"We are pleased to arrive at the end of an exceptionally competitive set of procurements which attracted leading firms from around the world. We have worked tirelessly as a team, engaging the market to understand how best to procure these works even as the world dealt with an unprecedented set of conditions and challenges,” said President and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario Michael Lindsay.
Connect 6ix was selected as the RSSOM package preferred proponent in September 2022.
The Connect 6ix team includes:
- Applicant Lead: Plenary Americas, Hitachi Rail, Webuild Group (Salini Impreglio Canada Holding Inc.), Transdev Canada Inc.
- Design Team: Hitachi Rail, IBI Group Professional Services (Canada) Inc.
- Construction Team: Hitachi Rail, Webuild Group (Astaldi Canada Design & Construction Inc. and Salini Impreglio Civil Works Inc.), NGE Contracting Inc.
- Operations, Maintenance and Rehabilitation Team: Hitachi Rail, Transdev Canada Inc.
- Financial Advisors: National Bank Financial Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
“As a world leader in autonomous metro systems, we’re hugely excited to help transform Toronto’s transit network by delivering the new Ontario Line,” said Group CEO, Hitachi Rail Andrew Barr. ““This will be the second major program that we’ll be bring our digital expertise and engineering excellence to deliver in Canada, after the Hurontario the light rail transit project. Our role delivering maintenance and operations for the next 30 years will see us having a lasting presence in Toronto for a generation to come.”
Hitachi Rail explains the trains will feature the latest technology and include onboard Wi-Fi, digital passenger information screens, charging points, dedicated bicycle spaces, double wheelchair areas, continuous, connected carriages, doors that open in sync with platform edge doors and regenerative breaking. The trains will be powered by electricity and travel at speeds upwards of 80 kph (approximately 50 mph).
Two RFQs issued for northern segment
In addition to awarding the RSSOM contract to Connect 6ix, two Request for Qualifications (RFQs) were issued for the northern segment of the Ontario Line that will support the building of underground stations and tunnels underneath Pape Avenue between the Gerrard portal and the Don Valley bridge and the construction of three kilometers (1.9 miles) of elevated tracks in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park.
“As we move forward with more procurements, we will continue to think deliberately about project packaging and risk as we work with our partners to implement the government’s historic plan for subways in the GTHA," said Lindsay.
Metrolinx President and CEO Phil Verster added, "These important steps forward in procurement mean we are even closer to giving communities across Toronto a new subway line that will take 28,000 cars off the road each day and also ease congestion across the existing transit network – reducing crowding by as much as 22 percent at Bloor-Yonge subway station and 14 percent at Union subway station. With connections to more than 40 other transit routes along the way, the Ontario Line will make it easier than ever for Torontonians to choose transit first."
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
