Contractor confident Ottawa LRT construction will finish on time

The City of Ottawa's contractor is confident the new LRT system will be ready on time, but there is still a lot of work to do, according to the latest update from city staff.

O-Train construction director Steve Cripps and O-Train planning director Chris Swail wrote in a memo issued late Monday afternoon to council that the city's contractor Rideau Transit Group (RTG) believes it is on track.

"RTG remains committed to the November 2, 2018 revenue service availability date and continues to indicate their confidence in achieving it," reads the memo.

The memo says that the contractor still has a fair bit of work to do on several stations to get the train up and running on time.

Work at Rideau Station is happening 24 hours a day to meet the deadline and RTG is also now assembling the last of the 34 trains needed to run the system, wrote Cripps and Swail.

If the turnover happens on time, the city could have the trains running within a few weeks.

OC Transpo has already issued layoff notices to 345 bus drivers who will not be needed when the train goes into service.