12-25-2015, 08:14 AM
That's excellent, and basically confirms that we'll see high-speed (80 km/h) testing along the Waterloo Spur of the prototype train from Bombardier before anywhere else! The plan was always low-speed testing at Thunder Bay, and possibly some higher speeds at the ex-UTDC facility in Kingston (they have a small standard-gauge OCS-equipped line with some S-curves there). Metrolinx will be keeping a close eye on this one, for sure.
I suspect that the first train will come to Waterloo in early fall 2016, be tested for ~6 months, then head back to Thunder Bay for modifications with any issues that come up. In parallel, trains 2, 3, etc. get whatever changes are required, so actual production train 2 would show up first here, ready for service. This is sort of what happened in Toronto with their order of streetcars; they fiddled around with 4401 for a while and worked out the kinks, then shipped it back to Thunder Bay for fixups once the rest of the trains started showing up.
I suspect that the first train will come to Waterloo in early fall 2016, be tested for ~6 months, then head back to Thunder Bay for modifications with any issues that come up. In parallel, trains 2, 3, etc. get whatever changes are required, so actual production train 2 would show up first here, ready for service. This is sort of what happened in Toronto with their order of streetcars; they fiddled around with 4401 for a while and worked out the kinks, then shipped it back to Thunder Bay for fixups once the rest of the trains started showing up.