share the balance of the federal funding for upgrades and of new track. On February 23, 2022, Metrolinx announced that the preferred bidder for the contract was ONxpress Transportation Partners, a consortium that includes Aecon, FCC Construcción, Alstom, and Deutsche Bahn, among others. Under its $1.6-billion contract, ONxpress will complete Phase 1 of the GO Expansion project, which includes designing key infrastructure such as signalling systems and upgrades to Hydro One power infrastructure. Phase 1 also includes determining the full scope of the project. The consortium will also start construction for grade separations at rail and road crossings. The contract was finalized on April 19, 2022; Alstom announced it will be implementing the European Rail Traffic Management System for the signalling on the upgraded network, the first use of that standard in North America. Electrification GO Expansion goals would be achieved with the electrification of core sections of the GO Transit train system while also expanding the use of diesel service in others, as follows: The Lakeshore West line between Aldershot and Union Station The Lakeshore East line between Oshawa and Union Station The Kitchener line between Bramalea and Union Station, including the Union Pearson Express service The Barrie line between Allandale Waterfront (Barrie) and Union Station The Stouffville line between Old Elm and Union Station With electrification, service on the Lakeshore West line could possibly be as frequent as every three-and-a-half minutes during peak periods. GO Expansion will operate 4-car, bi-level electric multiple unit (EMU) sets which would be coupled to form 8- and 12-car trains. To reduce operating costs, smaller 4-car trains will run during periods of lighter demand, such as on weekends. GO Transit's existing fleet of unpowered bi-level cars will be used to operate many peak services but will be pulled by electric locomotives, in a similar manner to SEPTA Regional Rail. EMUs cost less to operate than 12-car diesel trains and have faster acceleration. Journey times can be reduced significantly with electric traction depending on the route, stopping pattern, and equipment. Because electric trains can accelerate and decelerate faster at stations, trip times could be reduced on average by 10 minutes with a maximum reduction of up to 20 to 30 minutes. The electrified network will ultimately extend to , with six traction substations and 11 traction distribution facilities (switching or parallelling stations). construction for the electrification of lines is to begin in 2023, with