Ontario being sued by the company building the Eglinton LRT
Ontario and Metrolinx are being sued by the company building the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
On Thursday the private construction consortium, Crosslinx Transit Solutions — who was hired on to help the transit agency build the LRT — said that they were suing Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario for refusing to declare the pandemic as having a significant impact on construction.
In their filing, Crosslinx said the stringent health protocols in place, combined with the high rates of COVID-related absenteeism, and problems in the supply chains have slowed the rate of construction and productivity.
According to Crosslinx, the first half of the pandemic has cost at least $134 million and with the second wave that sum is “likely to increase.”
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“Crosslinx is taking legal action with deep regret. However, the impacts of the pandemic are real, and Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario have left us with no choice – we must act in the best interest of our workers and partners,” the statement says.
“Crosslinx, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario will now have to dedicate time and resources to resolving this matter through the courts instead of working together to adapt to emergency conditions and mitigate further construction delays.”
In response to the lawsuit, Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster, said that Crosslinx is using the pandemic to “excuse its years of poor performance.”
He added that Crosslinx has “consistently failed, month after month, for two years, to achieve their production rates.”
Verster claims that the private company has achieved their monthly productions rates in only four months of the last 26. Since August 2018, they have achieved 72% of their planned volume of work.
“CTS went to court in 2018 and now they are now doing it again. Litigation, while not surprising, is not what is required now. There is a dispute resolution process in the contract and CTS should follow that. Rather than legal action, we need CTS to focus on what is most important – getting the Eglinton project completed,” the statement says.
The Metrolinx CEO added that the Eglinton LRT project was seen as essential work during the pandemic in order for the job to continue.
Ontario NDP Transit Critic, Jessica Bell, said that the lawsuit shows that the Liberal and Conservative governments’ using privatization to build transit is “costly and ineffective.”
“The Eglinton Crosstown project has been plagued by delays and cost overruns for years – well before the pandemic. The former Liberal government shelled out a premium, using the flimsy excuse that the private consortium would be on the hook for risks, like cost overruns and construction delays,” Bell said.
“The Ontario government then secretly paid the consortium an additional $237 million to agree to a new delayed completion date, the largest settlement to a P3 in Ontario’s history. Now the province could be on the hook for millions more.”
In 2018, Crosslinx was hired to help with the Eglinton LRT which began construction in 2011.
In February 2020, it was announced that the expected opening date in 2021 was delayed with the project to be done “well into 2022.”
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