4TRANSIT awarded US$239.02 Metrolinx RER contract

4TRANSIT has been awarded a CA$300-million (US$239.02-million) contract to provide technical advisory services for two work packages offered under Metrolinx's 10-year Regional Express Rail (RER) Capital Program.

The RER Capital Program - a CA$13.5 billion (US$ 10.75 billion) undertaking that also includes a CA$7 billion (US$ 5.57 billion) State of Good Repair and Optimization and Expansion program - is designed to transform the GO Transit rail network in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) to a two-way, all-day electrified service, where trains run every 15 minutes or better. This program will significantly boost the frequency and overall number of trips the GO Transit system offers. Metrolinx anticipates increased GO Transit ridership to approximately 127 million customers within five years of the RER Capital Program's completion and expects to reduce journey times for select cross-region transit trips by as much as 50 percent.

4TRANSIT is a join venture comprised of three Canadian engineering consulting firms: Hatch, Parsons and WSP Canada. Since the group's creation in 2009, it has worked on multiple large-scale transit projects such as Eglinton Crosstown LRT. As an unincorporated joint venture, 4TRANSIT is governed by an executive committee comprising one representative from each partner company.

"This massive transformation of the GO rail network represents the convergence of innovative technology and a fast-track infrastructure expansion that will benefit everyone in the GTHA," said Mike Johnson, president of Parsons' Infrastructure Group. "Metrolinx has entrusted Parsons and the entire 4TRANSIT team to help bring this important project to fruition, drawing on our extensive rail transit experience in Canada and across the world."