As officials and crews struggle to rectify issues and get two new light rail Toronto transit lines up and running smoothly, transportation advocates say lessons learned with the Ion LRT system in Kitchener and Waterloo could help.
Originally approved as a rapid transit solution for Kitchener and Waterloo in 2011, a private-sector consortium was chosen to design and build Ion, as well as maintain and operate Ion for 30 years, in 2014. Construction began later in 2014, and it opened to the public for service in mid-2019.
Billed as a way to connect the Kitchener-Waterloo region and to facilitate new residential and commercial development, the 19-kilometre-long and 19-station line runs in a variety of settings, such as a former heavy rail corridor and dedicated right-of-ways on existing streets. There were 4.9 million boardings by riders between January and November 2025.
Ion runs between Conestoga Mall in Waterloo at the north end and Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener at the south end, and services various downtown and commercial business areas, the University of Waterloo, the Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo campus, Grand River Hospital, Kitchener city hall and the Kitchener Farmers’ Market.
Allie Beldan is a member of the advocacy organization TriTag (Tri-Cities Transport Action Group) who lives in downtown Kitchener and regularly uses Ion.
“I can always count on it to arrive on the minute that the schedule says it’s going to leave,” Beldan told CityNews Toronto, estimating on-time performance rates of 97 to 98 per cent.
However, like many new major rapid transit projects, there were seemingly growing pains despite opening in a summer with more favourable weather conditions.
“There was a bit of a delay opening it due to delays delivering the vehicles, but early on (it was) mostly fairly reliable. There were some issues the first two winters, but those have since been worked out,” Beldan said.
“The biggest challenge, because it opened in 2019, was 2020. COVID happened and we had a bit of a ridership slump.”
Beldan added that current problematic issues fall outside of Ion (operated by Keolis), including poor snow clearing by the municipalities of sidewalks and road infrastructure leading to the stations as well as less-than-optimal connections to Grand River Transit buses.
For passionate proponents of public transit in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ion has become a bit of a source of pride.
“You don’t have to worry about all the bells and whistles. Ion is a very basic system, but it works and it works well,” Beldan said.
“Something that local politicians here are fond of saying is Ion and [the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto] started (planning and) construction at about the same time, and only one of those systems has been in operation for almost seven years now, and only one of those systems was finished for under a billion dollars.”
Andres Valencia, a transportation consultant who lives in Toronto but visits family in Kitchener, echoed sentiments about the Ion LRT system.
“Ion definitely has seen much better performance over the years in terms of reliability and average speed being a bit better. Now, I wouldn’t say that Ion necessarily is the fastest system, but compared to the recent launch of [Line 6 Finch West in Toronto] it overall had better performance,” he told CityNews Toronto, while noting design limitations have slowed trains down in spots and adding there is still room to improve frequencies.
“A lot of the issues in terms of operations that Ion was able to work through have come over time. So things like dealing with switches and snow clearing, for example, have been generally just a bit of a growing pain, but it has delivered quite well.”
During recent visits to Kitchener and Waterloo, CityNews Toronto spent time travelling across the Ion corridor to see how the trains perform in snowy and windy winter conditions. During a trip, the train briefly paused while a group of workers were checking a switch and clearing it of snow. Like Line 6 Finch West, Ion relies on electric switches to allow trains to change direction if need be. However, there have been multiple service suspensions since early December on Line 6 due to switch malfunctions.
We also conducted a speed test between Conestoga and Fairview Park malls. It took just over 40 minutes and thirty seconds to go end to end. Near the University of Waterloo on the former heavy rail corridor, train speeds came just shy of 70 kilometres an hour while certain corridor portions in denser urbanized areas beside general vehicular traffic lanes were able to get up to 50 km/h. In parts of downtown Kitchener and uptown Waterloo where the tracks hug the sidewalks and roads without barriers, the train speeds dropped off.
As part of a move to expand rapid transit in Kitchener and Waterloo, the Region of Waterloo is also in the midst of planning a second phase of Ion. In November, regional council approved a 17-kilometre and seven-stop extension of train service to downtown Cambridge from Fairview Park Mall. Officials said detailed planning and design work is underway while the municipality pursues funding from the federal and provincial governments.
CityNews Toronto contacted the Region of Waterloo to talk about the Ion LRT line, the current ridership and expansion plans for the future, but a spokesperson declined an interview request.
Comparing Ion to Toronto transit projects like Line 6 Finch West
After the Line 6 Finch West LRT opened in northwest Toronto, one of the primary complaints was about slow trip times.
The day after the line opened, a CityNews reporter and a camera operator conducted speed tests on a train, a Line 6 Finch West shuttle bus, and in a CityNews vehicle. Out of all three modes, the train took the longest at 47 minutes to get to Humber College station from Finch West station.
To test Line 6 Finch West again to see if there was any improvement, a CityNews reporter went on a similar train trip and this time it took just shy of 49 minutes.
Compared to the Ion trip, it took 8.5 minutes longer to ride the 11-kilometre and 18-stop Line 6 Finch West route even though it’s roughly eight kilometres shorter than the Ion corridor and it has one less station stop.
When asked about what could potentially be applied to newer Toronto transit projects, like the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Line 6, and the under-construction Ontario Line, on the back of their experiences riding Ion, the transportation advocates pointed to two areas.
“Ion generally has wider stop spacing between the stations, which really allows it to reach higher speeds between stops,” Valencia said.
“On Finch West, however, stations are generally a bit closer. For example, near Albion Mall, there are three stations within about 850 metres of track and that’s less than 300 metres between stops. That generally does drive up the overall travel time of the line.
“Line 6 is controversial, slow, but has high potential for the impacts it can have for just the Greater Toronto Area.”
Valencia and Beldan both said the bigger way to speed up trip times is by implementing traffic signal priority. Along the entire Ion corridor, there are dozens of rail gate crossings that come down when trains approach, temporary electronic no-turn signs are activated at certain spots, and traffic lights at shared intersections are outfitted with technology to prioritize train movements.
“Another important success of the ion was the conscious position of implementing transit signal priority from the very beginning,” Valencia said.
“While we’re seeing an apparent increase in political will to implement signal priority to LRT and streetcar lines in Toronto, it’s really important that we understand that this is a very important thing to do for the city. But it’s not a done deal just yet and it won’t solve every single issue that Line 6 is facing.”
“Transit signal priority works. It can get where it’s going in time, in the best possible time that the right-of-way allows,” Beldan added.
