LRT open house shows off new vehicles to public

Waterloo region residents had a unique opportunity to tour the first ION LRT vehicle on Saturday as the region opened the doors to their operations, maintenance and storage facility during the ION open house.

City officials, Grandlinq and Bombardier gathered Saturday morning for unveiling of the first ION vehicle in the region.

 Tom Galloway, chair of the planning and works committee, began the open house thanking all who took part in the region's 10-year journey to make the ION LRT a reality.

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Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism and Government House Leader, also made a stop for the unveiling of the ION vehicle and said that the LRT plays a key role in the region's growth.

"We expect 200,000 new residents in Waterloo region in the next 20 years and this LRT is essential to that growth," she said.

Officials also had a chance to take a look inside the ION LRT vehicle.

"It has that fresh new vehicle smell, it looks absolutely fantastic and the other thing that surprised me was how big it is," said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.

"We knew that the trains are supposed to hold 200 people each but you don't really realize how big it is until you actually get on there and look from one end to the other."

The next train is scheduled to arrive in June, said Galloway. After that, another train is scheduled to arrive every 15 days until all 14 trains are accounted for sometime in December.

"There is about five more in production right now and the first of those vehicles is getting near completion," he said.

Test runs of the ION vehicle may also be scheduled for June. The ION vehicle will be travelling on the test track between Northfield Drive and Erb Street in Waterloo.