Kitchener-Waterloo

Second LRT vehicle coming 'soon' but not by mid-month as thought

The second Ion LRT vehicle will be coming soon, but will not meet the early September timeline the region announced in June.

Vehicle had been delayed from June to early September but new deadline unclear

Local officials greeted the first LRT vehicle when it arrived in February. Those attending the welcoming included Mark MacGregor, Bombardier project manager, stands alongside Counc. Jane Mitchell, Councl. Sean Strickland, Counc. Ken Seiling and Coun. Tom Galloway. (Jackie Sharkey/CBC)

The second Ion LRT vehicle will be coming "soon" but not by mid-September as previously thought.

This is not the first delay facing Vehicle 2. Delivery was first delayed earlier this summer; pushed back from June to the end of August or early September. 

Regional Coun. Tom Galloway told CBC News in an email the second vehicle is coming "soon, but not by mid-month."

A meeting of the region's active transportation advisory committee on Monday may provide more exact details, he said.

In June, regional staff visited the Bombardier facility in Kingston, Ont., where the second vehicle was undergoing testing.

The region said at the time it was delaying preliminary acceptance of the vehicles, because they are "not yet at the desired level of functionality."

Better to wait for functionality

The first vehicle, which arrived in February, still needed work to make it operational. It was not functional when it arrived but was not meant to be — it was meant to test operations, maintenance and the storage facility.

Galloway has said previously the region does not plan to take delivery of future vehicles until they're functional.

"The community was told we were going to get our second vehicle at the end of June. Well, we could've gotten our second vehicle at the end of June, it would've come in at much better shape than the first vehicle, but it's better that it stays in Kingston until August, September and comes to us at a higher level of functionality," Galloway said in an interview with CBC News in June.