ION EXTENSION DELAYED

The future of ION extension to the city of Cambridge remains uncertain. 

The Region of Waterloo council originally approved the Light Rail Transit (LRT) ION system in 2009. It was to be a link across Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) linking Kitchener and Cambridge. 

Plans for Stage 2 ION, bringing the LRT transport system from Fairway Station in Kitchener through the urban centres of Cambridge to downtown Galt, were officially announced in June 2019, but the project has since been subject to significant delays. 

A report to Cambridge City Council in 2023, estimated the expansion cost at $4.5 billion, a number that had nearly tripled since 2021. In June 2024, Matthew O’Neil, manager of Rapid Transit Coordination at the Region of Waterloo, said he expected construction to begin in 2032, seven years later than initial estimates. 

On Apr. 3, Grand River Transit (GRT) revealed their ten-year business plan, which made no reference to Stage 2 ION expansion. 

Councillors expressed frustration with the continued ambiguity surrounding the project. On The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NewsRadio Kitchener, former Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig was asked if Cambridge is being shortchanged on transit. 

“Of course we are,” he said. “We don’t have [an] LRT, we don’t have a GO train, and we’re paying for the LRT in KW […] and we’re wondering when is ours going to come to the city of Cambridge?” 

Stage 2 ION plans were thrown into further doubt on May 9, when Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett endorsed the notion of rapid bus transit over LRT expansion. In a Cambridge council meeting, Liggett mentioned the option was raised by Waterloo Region council staff members that day. 

“I know that’s earth-shattering news, but that was an open session of regional council today,” she said. 

Liggett went on to say that the $4.5 billion cost of LRT expansion is not a realistic prospect. 

“That’s an impossibility. We don’t have that much money in our budget in any given five-year span to put towards something like this,” she said. 

The impact of the LRT in Waterloo and Kitchener has been positive. In 2023, $429 million in new building permits were issued in land along the LRT line. A growing percentage of the region’s population are reportedly moving to locations within a 10-minute walk of an LRT stop. 

Cambridge councillors in favour of the expansion believe that it would have a significant impact on city rejuvenation.  

“The ION expansion would have a positive impact on private investment and city rejuvenation. Every report has predicted this, and we have seen firsthand how this happened for Kitchener and Waterloo along the ION Stage one1,” Pam Wolf, Cambridge city councillor, said in a statement. 

Former councillor Rob Deutschmann noted the ION expansion could attract $5-10 billion in private investments along the area, according to Cambridge Chamber of Commerce estimates. 

The Region of Waterloo council have confirmed that nothing has been finalised yet, with the Initial Business Case for Stage 2 ION to be presented to Cambridge City council in November.