Confederation Line East LRT Extension (Stage 2) [Blair to Trim] | U/C

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by hwy418

Slippage likely due to all the BS ancillary work going on that's not directly needed for LRT: MUPs, intersection modifications, etc. The Montreal / OR174 ramp intersection has been under construction for a few years now and for what?

The ancillary work wouldn't impact the schedule. We should now just automatically double any project estimate the next time a new project is announced. "Slippage" is the wrong word when projects take 2x-3x their estimates. It means the estimates are just outright lies to win the project

[OTSkyline]

Weird as I drove to Orleans this week (which I never do) and was surprised to see 2 LRT trains on the western extension. One of them was heading westbound on the crossover (between 174 and Blair) while the other was stationed at one of the stations in Orleans.

Are they testing already? If so, what is left that can possibly take another 12 months?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Weird as I drove to Orleans this week (which I never do) and was surprised to see 2 LRT trains on the western extension. One of them was heading westbound on the crossover (between 174 and Blair) while the other was stationed at one of the stations in Orleans.

Are they testing already? If so, what is left that can possibly take another 12 months?

Well, testing. The first train to cross the extension threshold was in March. They are slowly ramping up testing to make sure everything is safe before going into full testing.

Worth noting that the 2022 opening was City Staff's estimate. When the bid came in, the winning contractor's estimated opening date was 2024, around November. So at this point, truly, we're only 6 months out from a 4 year project. Considering labour shortages and the pandemic, this isn't bad at all. Slippage is the right word, unlike Line 2 that was supposed to re-open Summer 2022, so taking at least twice as long as what the contractor promised.

[DTcrawler]

Yeah, noting 2022 as a missed target for the east extension opening was a cheap and misleading ploy by the article writer.

[RogueNacho]

I commute daily from Orleans and I've noticed one or sometimes two single-car trains either parked at Montreal station or moving slowly in and around the fly-over almost every single day. They definitely have the testing program on the go right now, and it won't be long before we see trains creeping eastward towards Place D'Orleans and Trim.


Nearly every station is approaching substantial completion, with just a few final flourishes being worked on from what I can see (fencing, lighting, interior finishes, ticket booths, signage, etc.). Montreal station and Jeanne D'Arc station even have full power now, and are all lit up at night. Honestly, as someone who has witnessed the east line construction daily for the last three years, the speed and progress has been pretty commendable. I feel Summer/Fall 2025 was always going to be the more realistic target date, but hopefully testing goes well over the coming months.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by RogueNacho

I commute daily from Orleans and I've noticed one or sometimes two single-car trains either parked at Montreal station or moving slowly in and around the fly-over almost every single day. They definitely have the testing program on the go right now, and it won't be long before we see trains creeping eastward towards Place D'Orleans and Trim.


Nearly every station is approaching substantial completion, with just a few final flourishes being worked on from what I can see (fencing, lighting, interior finishes, ticket booths, signage, etc.). Montreal station and Jeanne D'Arc station even have full power now, and are all lit up at night. Honestly, as someone who has witnessed the east line construction daily for the last three years, the speed and progress has been pretty commendable. I feel Summer/Fall 2025 was always going to be the more realistic target date, but hopefully testing goes well over the coming months.

Yeah, I've been feeling very positive about the East extension. They've clearly been working hard from the very beginning, and these types of relatively minor delays in the face of labour and material shortages, a pandemic, are normal, even expected.

[RogueNacho]

Noticing more and more train testing activity on the east line the last few days, with some spotted closer to Place D'Orleans. I missed this...but apparently over the weekend a train made the entire trip to the terminus at Trim Station for the first time.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/o-train-tr...tion-1.6937385

[J.OT13]

That was fast. I feel like they slowly started testing to Montreal in March, and all of the sudden, trains going all the way to Trim. I thought we'd see something more gradual (one station at a time).

[FrostyMug]

One test train marked "derailed" just west of Jeanne D'Arc station. It was there last night and still this afternoon. Sorry no pic as I was driving.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by FrostyMug

One test train marked "derailed" just west of Jeanne D'Arc station. It was there last night and still this afternoon. Sorry no pic as I was driving.

That should be single-car train unit 1138.

However, from perspective, I couldn't tell if the train derailed.

[J.OT13]

I assume it was marked "derailed" as part of a simulation. I don't think they would mark it as "derailed" if it was derailed. Also, the news would have been all over it.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I assume it was marked "derailed" as part of a simulation. I don't think they would mark it as "derailed" if it was derailed. Also, the news would have been all over it.

The signs are the type used on a portable derail - it wouldn't mean that the train itself was derailed, just that there was a derail located on track there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derail

[sseguin]

Discovering the O-Train's East Extension: An Immersive Ride on OC Transpo's Training Simulator from Blair to Trim, with insightful commentary and expert instruction from Opinder Sadana, Rail Instructor at OC Transpo.

• Video Link

[Norman Bates]

Originally Posted by sseguin

Discovering the O-Train's East Extension: An Immersive Ride on OC Transpo's Training Simulator from Blair to Trim, with insightful commentary and expert instruction from Opinder Sadana, Rail Instructor at OC Transpo.

• Video Link

That was great!

Can we see the trip to Moodie?

[sseguin]

Yes, the video going West will be released Monday morning at 9am.

The trips in that one will be:
-Tunney's Pasture to Moodie
then
-Lincoln Fields to Algonquin

[Norman Bates]

Originally Posted by sseguin

Yes, the video going West will be released Monday morning at 9am.

The trips in that one will be:
-Tunney's Pasture to Moodie
then
-Lincoln Fields to Algonquin

Most excellent!

[Richard Eade]

Interesting video, Thanks, Shane.

So, 80 k/h is the maximum that these trains will be allowed to go? No wonder the simulated vehicles on the OR174 were passing. That doesn’t seem like a good incentive to switch to the train.

Wasn’t the specification supposed to be min. 100 k/h when the planning started? (The Talent had a top speed of 120 k/h – or 140 k/h, according to Wikipedia.)

[sseguin]

The speed in the simulator might not be the final speed in real life. They have yet to run a train end to end at any decent speed, so perhaps with the testing it may be faster and the simulator is being conservative on the speeds. I would suggest not taking the top speed in the sim as being the definitive top speed in real life when it opens (might end up being 80kph in the end but we do not know that for certain just yet).

[RogueNacho]

Much more train testing action being seen regularly in Orleans, particularly between Montreal and Convent Glen stations. I've noticed the trains are ramping up their speed now along that stretch, maybe clocking up to 70-80 km/hr based on my relative speed driving past them on the highway.

[lrt's friend]

I saw 4 trains in a row stopped at Montreal Road station eastbound yesterday at supper time.