WHITBY, ONT.—Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) have selected Plenary Infrastructure ERMF (Plenary) as the preferred proponent to design, build, finance and maintain the East Rail Maintenance Facility (ERMF) project.
The facility is being built in Whitby to support GO Transit’s planned service expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The selection of Plenary is the result of a competitive procurement process. The members of the preferred proponent team include: developer, Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd.; construction, Kiewit Canada Development Corp., Bird Design-Build Construction Inc., Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Co.; design, Stantec Consulting, Arup Canada Inc.; facilities management, Honeywell Limited, Toronto Terminals Railway; and financial advisor TD Securities.
"The Company is very excited about the East Rail Maintenance Facility, which reflects Bird’s ongoing commitment to actively pursue construction and equity investment opportunities in the PPP market across Canada," said Ian Boyd, Bird’s president and CEO.
The 500,000-square-foot facility in Whitby will accommodate maintenance work and provide storage for up to 22 trains, each having 12 cars. The location was chosen for its favourable characteristics including availability of property, compatible zoning, property size and shape.
The new maintenance facility will provide maintenance, repair, and additional storage for GO Trains and support GO Transit’s planned service expansions including the recently committed all-day, two-way service on all corridors in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
According to a release from Bird, the consortium plans to reach financial close early in 2015 and commence construction activity shortly thereafter, with a scheduled completion date in late 2017.
The proposed project had an estimated construction cost of $400 million in 2012 and is comprised of the following major components: 18 storage tracks, an electrical substation for power supply to facility and trains, progressive maintenance bays for train inspection and maintenance, coach, diesel, paint and wheel shops, locomotive and train wash buildings, a fuelling station and staff offices.
The facility will be designed towards the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.
IO and Metrolinx will now begin negotiating contract details with Plenary and expect to reach financial close in March 2015.
The project cost will be announced publicly following the completion of negotiations, with construction expected to begin shortly after.
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