LRT update expected Wednesday night, regional councillor says

Regional council is expected to receive an update on the ION LRT during Wednesday's meeting.

Coun. Tom Galloway tweeted the news along with a gif of a smiley face winking, but he did not give any details about what the report will say.

Regional staff have previously said the LRT would be operational in spring 2019, although no official date has yet been announced.

The LRT vehicles were ordered in August 2013 from Bombardier. Track construction started in August 2014 in uptown Waterloo.

Delays plague project

In April 2013, the region said the first phase of the project was expected to be finished and operational by 2017.

All trains were originally supposed to arrive by December 2016, but in May 2016, it was announced the LRT would be delayed until early 2018 due to issues with Bombardier's production of the vehicles.

Then in April 2018, the start of service was pushed back to December, again because of issues getting the vehicles from Bombarier.

In November 2018, regional staff said the LRT launch date would be delayed until spring 2019 because the vehicles weren't ready for service.

There were a number of local hiccups to the project, including some people running in the 2014 municipal election who questioned whether the project could be cancelled, finding a corduroy road under King Street in uptown Waterloo and needing to put a heated dome over part of the project in Kitchener so work could continue through the winter.