Looking to get some Ottawa LRT updates? Here is what’s going on…
Ottawa’s new LRT system is a light rail transit being built to connect the existing Bus Rapid Transitway at Tunney’s Pasture Station to Blair Road and the O-Train at Bayview Station. This rail transit is called the Confederation Line and is the biggest transportation infrastructure project in Ottawa since the Rideau Canal. The LRT is a $2.1 billion system being designed and built by the Rideau Transit Group who is working closely with the City of Ottawa.
Phase 1 of the LRT is currently in progress and consists of 13 stops East to West. Completion date of the first phase of Ottawa’s LRT is not currently set as the Rideau Transit Group missed the first two handover deadlines which were planned for May 24 and November 2. The third deadline of the LRT will be announced soon and according to transportation services general manager John Manconi, this date should be during the first three months of 2019.
According to John Manconi, some promising milestones have been met in the construction of the LRT Confederation Line:
- 6 trains have made 55 end-to-end trips successfully across the 12.5 km route from Blair to Tunney’s
- Several stations are nearly complete including uOttawa, Lees, Hurdman, Tremblay, St. Laurent, Cyrville and Blair
- Trains have successfully met their maximum speed of 83 km/h (they will not operate this fast)
- Fare gates have been installed for customers to purchase tickets when the LRT launches
After a finance and economic development committee meeting recently, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has been quoted to show his confidence that the LRT will be ready for the public to ride by the end of 2019’s first quarter: “When we finally saw the train run from one end to the other, with the right speeds and the right times for loading and unloading people, it tells me that we’re coming very, very close to having full service by the 31st of March 2019”.
According to ligneconfederationline.ca, this is the most recent update on Ottawa’s Confederation Line: ““End-to-end testing at line speed (50 km/hr) and coupled train testing continues. At stations along the western alignment, features such as bike racks and wood ceilings are undergoing installation. Landscaping works as well as testing and commissioning continue across the alignment. Architectural finishing works are progressing at the three underground stations downtown.”
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