Ontario transport minister defends opening of ‘solid’ Finch West LRT

Ontario’s transportation minister insists gas-powered switch heaters weren’t an option for the Finch West LRT, saying his government has built a “world-class” transit line, which is simply struggling through early teething problems.

Critics have questioned the decision by Metrolinx and the Ontario government to build the new Finch West LRT with electric switch heaters, the same system which the Ottawa LRT inquiry warned against.

Switches are needed on light rail systems for trains to change direction. In harsh Canadian winters, they can become clogged with ice and snow, which needs to be melted for them to operate and for the trains to run.

Gas and electric heaters can both be used to melt the snow and ice, but the Ottawa LRT was eventually forced to replace its electric heaters with gas after repeated issues.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria pushed back on Tuesday morning, saying the route and design of the Finch West LRT made gas heaters unsuitable and potentially even unsafe.

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“There’s a question of gas versus electric,” he said, speaking at an unrelated TTC event.

“This line runs in the middle of two lanes through many residential neighbourhoods. From a feasibility perspective, we could not proceed with the gas switches through the middle of the intersection with residential areas on both sides … from a safety perspective, as well, not something that would be advisable.”

The transportation minister said the Finch West was a ‘solid line’ still in its bedding-in period — a soft opening to the public when service is gradually ramped up, one of several lessons learned from the Ottawa LRT inquiry.

“When we started the Finch West LRt, there were challenges that could arise; that’s why we have progressive ramp-up of service on the line,” he said. “Almost all of the issues continue to come down to the operational maintenance and procedures and processes. That will continue to improve.”

Still, critics accuse the government of not paying attention to the lessons of Ottawa and opening a transit line with similar problems.

“Metrolinx and the Ford government had more than enough time to learn from the issues that plagued the Ottawa LRT,” Ontario NDP MPP Doly Begum said in a statement.

“Whatever reason they give for making the same mistakes is little comfort to the commuters who have been left stranded in the dead of winter.”

Asked about the problems on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he remained positive.

“You always have kinks in the rails, excuse my pun there,” he told reporters. “But once they start moving, they’ll start moving pretty smoothly. But rather than always talk about the negative, I prefer talking about the positive.”

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