The north-south O-Train reopens: 7 questions you might have as you ride
$840M project brings some new trains to some new stations every 12 minutes
OC Transpo's north-south rail line has a new train set and a lot more track.
As of 6 a.m. Monday morning, it's finally time to ride Line 2 to Riverside South, or hop off and ride Line 4 to the airport. The public opening on Jan. 6 comes more than two years after its original estimated launch of September 2022.
Unlike the opening of the east-west line that fully opened on Day 1 back in 2019, the City of Ottawa will do the gradual, soft start recommended in the LRT public inquiry report of 2022. Lines 2 and 4 will only run Monday to Friday for the first two weeks, before adding Saturdays and then Sundays.
Some bus routes have been extended so they drop riders at Line 2 stations, but OC Transpo says the major overhaul of the bus network won't take place until spring.
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Once you're on board, you might be wondering some things. The details of the $840-million construction project have been discussed over many, many years, and key decisions were made long ago. Here are some answers.
Why do trains come only every 12 minutes?
You're likely used to the east-west Line 1, which carries more passengers and runs every five minutes at peak times. But trains on Line 2 and Line 4 will come by every 12 minutes. That's how often trains used to come by on the Trillium Line before it closed in May 2020 to build this expansion.
It's a longer wait for Line 2, mostly because trains heading in opposite directions have to share the rails.
Line 2 is double-tracked between Leitrim and Limebank stations, but there are big sections of single track to the north where trains have only intermittent passing tracks to get around one another. (Most of the line follows an old freight line.)
In May 2023, former rail director Michael Morgan explained it was possible to shorten the wait between trains to 10 minutes by adding some track in the Walkley Road area, but any extra frequency beyond that would come at a steep cost.
The tunnel under Dow's Lake, which dates back to 1965, and the bridge over the Rideau River are both single-tracked. There is also single track in a deep rock trench near Little Italy, and on the new "flyover" above the Via Rail crossing south of Mooney's Bay station. Doubling them would be expensive and difficult.
It should take 35 minutes to travel between Bayview and Limebank stations, according to OC Transpo.
Why are these new lines using different trains?
It's a totally different kind of rail system. The north-south O-Train runs on diesel, whereas the east-west line is electric and powered by overhead wires.
In fact, when this O-Train southern extension opens, OC Transpo will be operating three train models.
East-west uses the electric Alstom Citadis Spirit. The north-south will keep using the six Alstom Coradia LINT trains the city put into service in 2015, plus seven new Stadler FLIRTs that are twice as long, can seat 200 passengers and can carry 420.
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The original $21-million O-Train that opened back in 2001 was diesel, and this is an extension of that line. At one point, there were well-developed plans for an electric, double-tracked north-south line. But a newly elected city council in 2006 cancelled that contract with Siemens/PCL/Dufferin group, sending transit planning in a different direction.
The city has left the door open to electrifying these diesel lines, however.
These Stadler FLIRT models use diesel to power an electric power pack, explained Alanna Lacroix, manager for rail operations for the two lines. They could possibly be converted to run entirely on electric power if OC Transpo goes that route in the future.
Why do I have to transfer to get on the airport's Line 4?
Between downtown and the airport, riders have to take three trains on Lines 1, 2 and 4. That means transferring at both Bayview and South Keys stations.
Back in 2017, city council under former mayor Jim Watson started the procurement process for Stage 2 LRT. The airport route was part of that debate. The airport's CEO argued the route should be more direct.
It was decided Line 4 would have its own four-kilometre line and act as a shuttle to Line 2. Watson said in 2017 it was "realistic and affordable and within budget."
For a few years leading up to that, though, it didn't look like there would even be rail transit to the airport.
When the City of Ottawa first proposed its transportation master plan for 2013, it said it couldn't afford it. It also didn't want to slow travel times on the main north-south trip between Bayview station and the south. Still, the city did the required environmental assessments to leave the door open if federal and provincial funding materialized.
The provincial and federal governments did pay for the tracks. The airport was responsible for paying for and building the airport station, which CEO Marc Laroche said cost nearly $20 million. It received some financial help for it from the federal government in 2021.
Why do only half-sized trains go to the airport?
Line 4 will only use the shorter Alstom LINT trains that ran on the O-Train from 2015 to 2020, Lacroix says.
OC Transpo has said ridership projections suggest the line only needs that length of train.
The platforms on Line 4 were only built to accommodate those smaller trains, so a change to service would be difficult.
Why is Bowesville Station in the middle of rural fields?
You go through a lot of open field in the southern stretches of Line 2.
Both the Bowesville and Leitrim stations are expected to be hubs for people to park their vehicles and get on transit. Bowesville's park-and-ride lot has 800 spots and can grow to 2,000, and could become a major transfer point for buses. Leitrim station has 330 parking spots but can expand to 925.
In the far future when city pipes are laid in that direction, Bowesville might see lots of development. The city has been holding open houses this year about how that neighbourhood might be laid out.
For much of the early planning of O-Train Line 2, the city planned to end the line at Bowesville Road, saying it's what it could afford.
The line only jogs over to homes in Riverside South because in 2018, the province chipped in $50 million and developers Urbandale and Richcraft agreed to an unusual special levy on the tax bills for new homes to raise another $30 million.
Why doesn't Line 2 keep going on to Barrhaven?
That ship also sailed 18 years ago, after the original north-south light rail contract was cancelled under former mayor Larry O'Brien. It would have taken rail transit from Barrhaven, through downtown at street level to the University of Ottawa.
According to current transportation plans, Barrhaven would eventually get LRT service by extending a line south from the future station at Algonquin College. Whether Stage 3 of the city's plans go ahead is starting to look unlikely, however.
As for connecting Barrhaven and Riverside South, a plan for bus rapid transit has been on the books since 2013. Staff are about to update and add to the list of priority projects for a new transportation master plan — one of the big policy files at city hall in the new year.
The Riverside South to Barrhaven bus rapid transit line could rise or fall in priority based on updated data for how people are getting around.
Will this train see the same problems as the Confederation Line?
Given the myriad problems seen on Line 1 in its opening months, it would be unwise to make a pronouncement.
That said, this line is different in several ways. OC Transpo often points to how the north end of the line ran dependably for 19 years after the pilot project opened in 2001.
The Stadler trains are a more rugged, commuter-style model that is manually driven by its train operators and has less technology. The east-west LRT, on the other hand, is entirely automated and controlled by computers, and powered by an overhead catenary.
"They're a proven vehicle and we know they will be reliable for us," said Lacroix, pointing out that the Stadler FLIRT is used in several countries including nordic climates. "We haven't made any alterations to the vehicle outside of seating arrangements."
Transit general manager Renée Amilcar has cautioned there will inevitably be some mechanical problems, likely with the many switches on the track that allow trains to pass one another. These have gas-powered heaters for winter, something the east-west line needed to have added after switches froze using electric ones.
But she also points to how carefully OC Transpo has been implementing lessons from the LRT public inquiry. The true test begins today.
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With files from Elyse Skura