Thunder Bay Bombardier plant to produce 65 Go Transit cars

There was good news for the workers at the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay this morning, as the province announced it would buy 65 new bi-level GO traincars from Bombardier.

The order will increase GO Transits fleet of train cars to 743, and is an important step toward introducing two-way, all-day service on all seven GO rail lines. The purchase is part ofThe Big Move, a 25-year, $50-billion plan announced in 2008 for improving gridlock conditions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

About 250 workers will work on the $481 million order, which is expected to be delivered between June 2016 and July 2017.

Our investments in mass transit continue to sustain and create jobs at Bombardier in Thunder Bay, said Bill Mauro, MPP for Thunder BayAtikokan.

Todays announcement is good news for the employees at the plant and to the economy of Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario as a whole.

'We have the answer'

The vice president of the Bombardier Transportation Thunder Bay Business Unit said hes glad for the order.

We are pleased to provide Metrolinx with additional Bombardier bi-level coaches for GO Transit and welcome our customers renewed confidence in the products we deliver, Aaron Rivers said.

According to a press release from Bill Mauros office, bi-level cab cars and passenger coaches have been part of GO Transits fleet since 1978 and are manufactured by Bombardierin Thunder Bay, which is the only Canadian manufacturer of commuter rail coaches.

Thepresident of Unifor local 1075, which represents the workers, said his members "are very happy they have decided to choose us to solve the problems in Toronto."

DominicPasqualino added that every time he goes to Toronto it seems more and more congested.

"And we have the answer here in the street cars, in the bi-level cars and the subway cars."