‘We cannot wait until Jan. 6. We’ll continue to build on everything. We’re going to work on reliability. We’re going to work on how quickly we can fix things.’
OC Transpo unveiled its Trillium Line service for reporters Monday, offering an advanced peek at 24 kilometres of track and 14 more stations that will be added to Ottawa’s O-Train light-rail network next month.
The Dec. 16 media tour marked three weeks until the service begins operation.
The new line brings train service to the Ottawa airport for the first time and will cut 15 minutes off north-south transit times between the downtown and Limebank Station for residents of Riverside South.
The normally restrained Renée Amilcar — who described herself as “focused” when the train successfully passed its trial run and “factual” when she announced its opening day — seemed almost giddy as she spoke to reporters, laughing and mugging for cameras.
“I’m very, very excited. We cannot wait until Jan. 6,” Amilcar, the city’s transit general manager, said after greeting the media tour’s return to Bayview Station.
“We’ll continue to build on everything. We’re going to work on reliability. We’re going to work on how quickly we can fix things. We’ll continue to train our people. And hopefully we will have some freezing rain and more snow so we can practise! I can’t believe that I am saying that, but it’s true this time.”
Heavier and studier than the electric-powered Alstom Citadis trains that run on the Confederation Line, the new diesel-powered Stadler FLIRT that will run on Line 2 from Bayview to Limebank stations offer a smoother, quieter ride that feels more like a VIA trip than a subway ride.
The seven new Stadler FLIRT (Fast Light Innovative Regional Trains) are 80 metres long and can carry 420 passengers on the 36-minute ride between Bayview and Limebank at a maximum speed of 80 km/h.
Evening Update
The trains on Line 4 between South Keys Station and the Ottawa airport will use six refurbished Alstom LINT trains that were used on the old O-Train service. Those trains are 40 metres long and can carry 262 passengers, but can be doubled up for use on Line 2 if needed.
The airport spur was added to the network after intense lobbying from the Ottawa Airport Authority who wanted a “people mover” to link to the downtown. The airport authority paid for the station itself at a cost of between $18 million and $20 million, said Mark Laroche, president and CEO of the airport authority. The cost of the four kilometres of track was picked up by the federal and provincial governments, he said.
“You have to look at this as a long-term economic investment,” Laroche said. “It’s going to start off relatively slowly, because people will have to get used to using the service.
“It’s going to help the downtown attract conferences. The fact that we’re connected to the downtown is very important for outside visitors.”
The airport trip requires a transfer at South Keys because the two stations on Line 4 at the airport and the Uplands Station at the EY Centre are too small to accommodate the 80-metre Stadler trains. But that isn’t a major inconvenience for travellers with overnight carry-on luggage, Laroche said.
Other goodies for travellers include enclosed, heated waiting areas at each station, washrooms at Bayview and Limebank stations, new motion-activated public art installations at Corso Italia, South Keys and Limebank stations, and eight kilometres of new multi-use pathways that mean every station will be connected to active transportation routes.
Park and Rides are available at Leitrim and Bowesville stations.
OC Transpo is planning a soft launch for the service, beginning Jan. 6 with Monday-to-Friday service. After a minimum of two weeks, service will be expanded to Saturdays for at least another two weeks before full seven-days-a-week service begins.
Amilcar said she expects the Trillium Line will be popular with users.
“People will come,” she said. “People will be very excited to take the train, so I think we’re going to maximize our capacity, which is approximately 4,000 people per hour. I think we’ll reach that for sure.”
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