GO Transit orders 50 more cars from Thunder Bay Bombardier plant

With another 50 bi-level cars ordered by GO Transit, about 250 local Bombardier employees know their jobs are secure for the length of another contract.

“It bodes well for the future of the plant,” said CAW Local 1075 president Paul Pugh. “It’s very good news.”

Monday morning MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay-Atikokan) announced at the local Bombardier plant that GO Transit will be expanding their current contract with that company for another 50 cars, a $125 million purchase.

Continuity in production is important, Pugh added, stating that every time there is a layoff and then start-up it takes a lot of time and energy to get everything back in motion.

“Being able to run the plant efficiently means that the plant is able to secure other contracts,” he said.

Mauro echoed Pugh’s thoughts, and said when operations lay dormant for too long the outlook can appear scary.

“You wonder at some point if they’re really going to survive in the future,” he said. “We know five-to-six years ago there was some real concern about this plant, about their long-term security in the Thunder Bay market because they had gone a long time between contracts.”

And while the plant is surviving on the GO contract, Mauro said they’re in a position to bid on other contracts.

GO Transit president Gary McNeil said the contract expansion is driven by customer demand.

“Most of our trains are operating beyond capacity,” he said. “We have about 50 people standing in every coach on our system, so our customers are screaming for more seats. For us we have to get that out to our customers or people will go and drive their cars to work.”

By tapping into their existing contract with Bombardier, McNeil said they can start getting those additional vehicles this November. Normally, the process of acquiring a new contract could take up to three years.

The 50 new cars mean another 8,000 seats and will bring GO’s bi-level coach fleet to a total of 565 coaches. Production is set to start this June with the first car delivered in November.