O-Train Line 2/4 [Stage 2 | Greenboro to Limebank/Airport] | In Service

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Doubling down on spring
The head of OC Transpo says she's confident the north-south Trillium Line LRT will be open before the summer. CTV's Jackie Perez reports.

March 18, 2024 7:00 p.m. EDT

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/video/c2887708-doubling-down-on-spring?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

Positive news here!

If true, that would be awesome. Would love to see Line 2 open for the busy July season, with Canada, Bluesfest and other festivals.

[OTSkyline]

Fingers crossed. And it would be a good test to get it up and running before the busy September back to school season starts.

"Before summer" would typically insinuate like before mid-June? We're almost April and I believe they needed like 2-3 months for trial, testing, training... Unless they're already mid-testing and training but weren't clear about that before.

[lrt's friend]

Are we seeing pressure being applied to open Line 2/4 sooner than later? Not so much different to what happened with Line 1 in 2019. The city is anxious to start saving money on the service cuts, so an earlier opening is better for the city budget. Of course, it is never ideal to implement a massive service change in September. It is always better in June when they work out the kinks over summer and a lot of people are on vacation. There will be fewer complaints when implementing a service cut in June instead of September when there are fewer riders to express their displeasure with longer trips, longer wait times, and additional transfers. I guess I am a big cynic, but I have seen how this works too many times. As a former IT worker, I saw how pressure is applied to implement large projects. Complicated projects are never bug free, so at some point, 'implement' is the message you get and deal with the issues after opening. Sound familiar?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Are we seeing pressure being applied to open Line 2/4 sooner than later? Not so much different to what happened with Line 1 in 2019. The city is anxious to start saving money on the service cuts, so an earlier opening is better for the city budget. Of course, it is never ideal to implement a massive service change in September. It is always better in June when they work out the kinks over summer and a lot of people are on vacation. There will be fewer complaints when implementing a service cut in June instead of September when there are fewer riders to express their displeasure with longer trips, longer wait times, and additional transfers. I guess I am a big cynic, but I have seen how this works too many times. As a former IT worker, I saw how pressure is applied to implement large projects. Complicated projects are never bug free, so at some point, 'implement' is the message you get and deal with the issues after opening. Sound familiar?

I don't think this is quite the same thing. With Line 1, the City put pressure to finish as soon as the first delay was announced, which was more or less 6 years after construction of a far more complicated project had started. With Line 2, the City has been shrugging off any and all delays, two years after the initial completion date on what was supposed to be a two year project.

[lrt's friend]

South Keys is a great place to train watch. You get to see Line 2 and 4 interacting. Just got back. I only saw Lint trains running. I thought they were just testing the airport spur but nope, I saw a double and single Lint train on the mainline. They were not simulating live operations. I saw two Line 4 trains passing each other just south of Hunt Club instead of at the EY Centre. Maybe they were testing various scenarios.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Are we seeing pressure being applied to open Line 2/4 sooner than later? Not so much different to what happened with Line 1 in 2019. The city is anxious to start saving money on the service cuts, so an earlier opening is better for the city budget. Of course, it is never ideal to implement a massive service change in September. It is always better in June when they work out the kinks over summer and a lot of people are on vacation. There will be fewer complaints when implementing a service cut in June instead of September when there are fewer riders to express their displeasure with longer trips, longer wait times, and additional transfers. I guess I am a big cynic, but I have seen how this works too many times. As a former IT worker, I saw how pressure is applied to implement large projects. Complicated projects are never bug free, so at some point, 'implement' is the message you get and deal with the issues after opening. Sound familiar?

In reality... an earlier opening is technically worse for the budget. The route changes/cuts are going to save approximately $10M/year in operating costs, while the opening of Line 2 and 4 will add $20M/year in operating costs.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

South Keys is a great place to train watch. You get to see Line 2 and 4 interacting. Just got back. I only saw Lint trains running. I thought they were just testing the airport spur but nope, I saw a double and single Lint train on the mainline. They were not simulating live operations. I saw two Line 4 trains passing each other just south of Hunt Club instead of at the EY Centre. Maybe they were testing various scenarios.

I've seen all "three" on a regular basis for a while now. I have also seen a few single LINT trains running north of South Keys, I can't recall if they ever went past Greenboro though.

It also looks like they are getting ready to pave the path connecting the pedestrian bridge as they reinstalled the temporary fencing around Sawmill Creek the other day. You were able to squeeze past the temp fence close to the underpass for a couple weeks now. Very much looking forward to that detour being done with.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

In reality... an earlier opening is technically worse for the budget. The route changes/cuts are going to save approximately $10M/year in operating costs, while the opening of Line 2 and 4 will add $20M/year in operating costs.

That actually doesn't surprise me. I have read stories that rail is actually more expensive to operate than buses (despite more salaries and benefits for drivers) unless rail ridership is very high.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

In reality... an earlier opening is technically worse for the budget. The route changes/cuts are going to save approximately $10M/year in operating costs, while the opening of Line 2 and 4 will add $20M/year in operating costs.

Not that I'm doubting you, but do you have sources? And what's the reasons for this? A single track mainline should be cheaper than buses. Is it the lack of electrification making it expensive to run?

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Not that I'm doubting you, but do you have sources? And what's the reasons for this? A single track mainline should be cheaper than buses. Is it the lack of electrification making it expensive to run?

It was Pat Scrimgeour's answer to a question in the commission meeting yesterday.

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

That actually doesn't surprise me. I have read stories that rail is actually more expensive to operate than buses (despite more salaries and benefits for drivers) unless rail ridership is very high.

It's more expensive because it's actually a lot of net-new service.

Unlike the Confederation Line, the bus service that is being cut is not being offset directly by new rail service.

[Hybrid247]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Doubling down on spring
The head of OC Transpo says she's confident the north-south Trillium Line LRT will be open before the summer. CTV's Jackie Perez reports.

Ugh... why? They already tempered the public's expectations during the last city council meeting for a possible September opening, which was the right thing to do. There is no way this thing launches before summer. Why get the public's hopes up?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Not that I'm doubting you, but do you have sources? And what's the reasons for this? A single track mainline should be cheaper than buses. Is it the lack of electrification making it expensive to run?

I think a train is more efficient if you are replacing a bunch of buses with one train. If you are replacing 1 bus with one train I can't imagine there is an efficiency gain, particularly since the vehicles will run empty south of Hunt Club.

[On Edge]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Closed again. Didn't take long.

Ran past this morning and yes, thy have fenced it off again.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Closed again. Didn't take long.

Fence Fetishism.

[lrt's friend]

Watched the trains for a bit early this afternoon. I saw one single Lint, a double Lint and one Flirt train. It appeared that there were no trains on the Airport line, and the main line was only running at about half of proposed frequency. Perhaps, they were testing to see how fast trains could run from end to end. They appeared to be travelling a bit faster than on previous occasions. There were no trains passing each other at South Keys, which is required when full operations commence.

[SL123]

Trillium line 2 testing Video from Ottawa's Freelance Photography on Youtube

• Video Link

[Richard Eade]

Thanks to Ottawa’s Freelance Photography for this.

I was just thinking yesterday that I hadn’t seen anything from him lately. I hoped that all was well, since I had come to depend on his video updates. The city and their contractors did such a poor job of keeping people updated and excited about the project, I think that most of us relied on OFP’s videos to keep us up to date on the LRT projects. He was that light in the dark void that is public communications. I appreciate his effort.

[zzptichka]

That train arrival is giving a heavy-rail vibe. Definitely does not feel LRT/subway like.

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

That train arrival is giving a heavy-rail vibe. Definitely does not feel LRT/subway like.

That damn bell is so annoying. Was hoping they’d do away with it after the upgrade. That and the door opening/closing chime on Line 1, it’s crazy how such little things can negatively affect your perception of the system

[SL123]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

That damn bell is so annoying. Was hoping they’d do away with it after the upgrade. That and the door opening/closing chime on Line 1, it’s crazy how such little things can negatively affect your perception of the system

Would not want to live directly next to Corso Italia Station and hearing that damn Bell every time a train comes in