As Toronto loses its elevated Line 3 Scarborough RT for good this year, a spiritual successor to the automated transit line is already in operation in another Ontario city.

Sort of.

Slick new trains are now plying a circuitous rail line in Kingston, Ontario. However, anyone in Ontario who wants to ride one of these flashy transit vehicles will likely have to wait a few weeks, then hop on a flight and travel about 3,500 kilometres to the coastal metropolis of Vancouver.

That's because this transit line is actually just a testbed at Alstom's (formerly known as Bombardier Transportation) facility, where the first in a series of 41 five-car-long Mark V trains is now undergoing trial runs before delivery to the Vancouver SkyTrain network.

"The first train of the new fleet — designed, built, and tested in Canada — is set to commence qualification testing on our upgraded test track at our Kingston, Ontario, facility, bringing Vancouverites one step closer to riding the new Mark V trains," said Michael Keroulle, president of the Americas region at Alstom.

First look at #SkyTrain's very first new generation Mark V train being tested at the Ontario plant!

These 5-car-long trains boast improved features & more capacity with a length spanning the entire Expo/Millennium platform. #TransLink #vanpoli 1/2https://t.co/AVj2HZQZay pic.twitter.com/Gq2PVOCEVn

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) August 22, 2023

New Mark V trains are fully articulated and will become the longest in Translink's (Metro Vancouver's transit system) SkyTrain fleet when this first train is shipped out west for on-site testing in October.

Their immense length — a testament to Vancouver's swelling population and transit demand — required a $78 million project to upgrade select stations with platform extensions to handle the trains' longer lengths.

Capacity is the main selling point for these fancy new trains, though they will also offer riders new features like improved bike storage, new LCD digital information displays with real-time transit information, next station announcements, and a host of other perks that promise to improve the overall rider experience over the current Mark III trains.

Though they are destined for the West Coast, these vehicles should be a regular sight at Alstom's Kingston, Ontario, facility for years to come, as one new train is expected to be delivered each month from June 2024 to September 2027, providing employment for Ontarians for years to come.

Vancouver's continued commitment to modernizing the SkyTrain stands in stark contrast to the demise of Toronto's Line 3.

The SkyTrain, which was based on the very same technology that debuted on Line 3 in Scarborough, continues to expand, while its predecessor in Toronto may never operate again following a derailment this summer and a planned November closure.