Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx issue RFP for Union Station Enhancement Project

March 9, 2020
The station project will add capacity to support the GO Rail Expansion program and a winning bidder is expected to be announced this summer.

Infrastructure Ontario has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from four shortlisted team to deliver the Union Station Enhancement Project, part of Metrolinx’s GO Expansion program.  

Union Station serves more than 250,000 customers a day and is described by Metrolinx as the engine of the Greater Golden Horseshoe’s transit network. The transit hub serves Amtrak, VIA Rail Canada, the Toronto Transit Commission, GO buses and trains and UP Express trains.

GO Rail Expansion will transform the transportation network in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area over the next decade and the Union Station Enhancement Project will support the expansion with added capacity. Metrolinx describes the Union Station project as more than a makeover. The project’s scope includes new platforms, with canopies and vertical access elements, such as stairs and elevators, two new tracks designed to allow for future passenger train speed up to 45 mph, with associated signal works, a new concourse area below the new platforms that will connect the York, Bay and Via Concourse, Union Square and the Scotiabank Galleria and both York and Bay Streets and a storm water management system, as well as other building systems.

The teams asked to submit RFPs include:

OnTrack Alliance

Constructor: Kiewit and Alberici

Design: WSP

GTA Alliance

Constructor: EllisDon and Keltbray

Design: AECOM, Zeilder and Stephenson Engineering

OneUnion Alliance

Constructor: Aecon, Modern Niagara and PNR RailWorks

Design: Mott MacDonald and Systra

Union Gateway Alliance

Constructor: Dragados

Design: Parson and Hatch

Infrastructure Ontario says teams were selected based on criteria in the request for qualification phase, including their team composition, experience in collaborative project delivery, health and safety and past project examples.

The four teams will now begin the RFP process where they will be evaluated on their approach, collaborative behaviors and final fees. The team with the highest score will be selected to enter into an Alliance Development Agreement with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario to submit a proposal to deliver the Union Station Enhancement Project. This will include collaborating in the design, finalizing the Target Outturn Cost and identifying and managing project risks.

A winning bidder is expected to be selected during the summer of 2020 and the project cost will be known following the execution of the Project Alliance Agreement.

About the Author

Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director

Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.

Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.

She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.  

She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.