An upcoming major construction project in Toronto will bring Metrolinx one step closer to completing its signaling and train control improvement program.
Once complete, the new signaling system will help Metrolinx provide more effective GO train service by reducing signal disruptions, improving recovery time when disruptions happen and combining operations into one control center.
The signal bridge will be installed Oct. 29-Oct. 31. Three overhead signaling structures – the bridges – were previously installed on the east side of Union Station this past summer. But this will be the first bridge installation on the west side of the station.
The bridge will span multiple tracks, roughly stretching across half of the tracks near Union Station. Crews will use cranes to lift and install the bridge and its vertical supports, followed by elevated working platforms to secure the span to the supports.
The bridge is currently being constructed at GO Transit’s Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility and will be transported to the Union Station Rail Corridor via railcar early Friday morning.
Crane mobilizations, staging and vertical component installations will take place during the evening and into the night of Oct. 29. The overhead section will be installed during the day on Oct. 30, barring any weather or mechanical delays.
The work will not impact train service, but customers traveling to and from Union Station may get a glimpse of the bridge being installed. Residents living close to the tracks will hear noise from the work, particularly as crews use mechanical wrenches to fasten the horizontal components of the bridge with the vertical sections.
