Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Considering Line 2 has been closed for over 4 years, I won't shed a tear for the occasional weekend closures of the 174, even if they do impact me. Small price to pay.

You're forgetting that Ottawa drivers must not be inconvenienced, no matter the cost.

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Considering Line 2 has been closed for over 4 years, I won't shed a tear for the occasional weekend closures of the 174, even if they do impact me. Small price to pay.

My point is that full closures of a freeway especially during the daytime hours should not be routine, but an exception. Two weekends ago they closed the 174 and St. Joseph Boulevard due to the Santa Clause parade. So, that meant the only way in and out of Orleans was via Innes Rd. Who's in charge here? Do you think they could have coordinated to not have the highway closed at the same time?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by hwy418

My point is that full closures of a freeway especially during the daytime hours should not be routine, but an exception. Two weekends ago they closed the 174 and St. Joseph Boulevard due to the Santa Clause parade. So, that meant the only way in and out of Orleans was via Innes Rd. Who's in charge here? Do you think they could have coordinated to not have the highway closed at the same time?

I agree with you there. They should try to better coordinate closures so that only one major route is out of service at a time when possible.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

At least misery loves company, and we aren't the only ones with full line shutdowns, although we're the only ones with planned ones.

I think this is the price of ATC. Older signaling systems wouldn't shut down everything everywhere. The benefits of ATC are obvious, but this is a drawback

https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/12/ttc-shuts-down-subway-service-emergency-repairs/

We get the disadvantages of ATC and the disadvantages of an older system because we still have drivers and 4 cabs wasting space. Really the worse of both worlds.

[rocketphish]

There was a short unscheduled outage today, apparently:

Confederation Line service resumes after broken pipe halted trains
Shortly before 4 p.m., OC Transpo issued an alert saying trains were being held and more information would follow.

Marlo Glass, Ottawa Citizen
Published Dec 29, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

Train service has resumed on the Confederation Line after a brief hold.

Richard Holder, director of the City of Ottawa’s rail construction program, said in an emailed statement that trains were briefly paused on the afternoon of Dec. 29 while Ottawa Fire Services inspected a broken pipe connected to the sprinkler system in Rideau Station.

“The station was cleared to reopen at around 4:40 p.m., and regular Line 1 train service resumed, with precautions put in place until the end of service today,” he said. Rideau Transit Maintenance will be repairing the pipe overnight.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon, OC Transpo issued an alert on social media saying trains were being held and more information would follow. As of 4:30 p.m., there was no train service between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations, and replacement buses were running between Tunney’s Pasture and Hurdman stations.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/confederation-line-trains-held-on-sunday-afternoon

[Richard Eade]

It was only back in February of 2023 that the fire-suppression pipes caused a flood in the Rideau Station.
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/lrt-service-di...r-water-leak-at-rideau-station-1.6263753
Sounds like they might be an ongoing problem.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa gets a few mentions here:

Dud on the tracks
Across Canada, much-needed transit projects are indefinitely delayed and way over budget. Why? Political micromanagement and public-private partnerships each play a big role

Oliver Moore and Jeff Gray, The Globe and Mail
Published January 5, 2025

Canadians waiting for new transit could be forgiven for feeling like Charlie Brown having the football snatched away. The opening dates for major projects slip repeatedly, and sometimes disappear entirely. When will the $13-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT line in Toronto open? No one knows.

These difficulties are not unique to Canada. The English-speaking world is rife with examples of hugely expensive and delayed transit projects. But the problems pose a challenge to political leaders as cities grow rapidly, straining already clogged roads.

Building more roads doesn’t reduce congestion, decades of research shows. The only way to do that is to give people options that don’t require driving. Transit is far more efficient at moving people than personal automobiles. But first it has to get built, and people have to have enough confidence that will happen to be willing to support the disruption and cost of construction.

<more>

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a...red-in-delays-and-cost-overruns-force-a/

[eltodesukane]

"Across Canada, much-needed transit projects are indefinitely delayed and way over budget..."
-
Like Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT,
now in its 14th year of construction,
and still not done.

[rocketphish]

I wonder if we are short a few trains?


OC Transpo O-Train Line 1 delays could continue into the evening
OC Transpo said on social media that "delays may be experienced" but did not specify the cause.

Marlo Glass, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 27, 2025 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read

OC Transpo reported delays along the LRT’s Line 1 during Monday morning’s commute, and further delays may be expected during the evening rush hour.

In a memo to city staff and council, Renée Amilcar, the city’s transit manager, said an issue with a switch near Tremblay Station delayed the start of service, and caused further delays for traingoers.

Line 1 trains slowed down to allow Rideau Transit Maintenance workers to troubleshoot the issue, but the increased travel time for trains resulted in higher customer volumes at some station platforms.

“To support customers during the morning commute, supplemental bus service was put in place from Tunney’s Pasture to downtown to help keep customers moving. Service gaps on Line 1 have now been reduced and passenger volumes at stations are normal,” she said in a memo which was sent out shortly before noon.

Earlier in the day around 5 a.m. on Jan. 27, OC Transpo said on social media that “delays may be experienced” but did not specify the cause.

“We are working to resolve the matter. Updates to follow,” the post said.

Around 7:45 a.m. OC Transpo repeated that delays may be experienced, and more updates were coming.

After the morning rush hour, Amilcar said, technicians kept working on the impacted switch, and “a brief system hold was put in place as further troubleshooting work took place which was not able to resolve the issue.”

Line 1 service has resumed, with trains using one track on the affected area. It’s expected that this will continue for the remainder of the day, she said.

“Customers are unlikely to experience delays during the mid-day period, but during the afternoon commute customers may experience longer wait times at stations and travel times as trains wait to pass through the area near Tremblay Station,” Amilcar said.

Rideau Transit Maintenance “continues to troubleshoot the issue and, if not resolved, will conduct repairs to the switch during the overnight hours while Line 1 is not in operation in order to restore service on both tracks in this area.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/oc-transpo-o-train-line-1-delayed

[rocketphish]

OC Transpo O-Train Line 1 trains back on schedule for evening commute
A switch issue forced trains to run only on one set of tracks while crews worked to fix the problem through much of Monday.

Marlo Glass, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 27, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

OC Transpo reported delays along the LRT’s Line 1 during Monday morning’s commute, but expected a smooth evening rush hour after a switching issue left trains running on only one set of tracks for part of the day.

In a memo to city staff and council, Renée Amilcar, the city’s transit manager, said a switch near Tremblay Station delayed the start of service, and caused further delays for traingoers.

Line 1 trains slowed down to allow Rideau Transit Maintenance workers to troubleshoot the issue, but the increased travel time for trains resulted in higher customer volumes at some station platforms.

Later in the afternoon, maintenance crews “were able to put in place measures at the switch so that trains can operate on both tracks,” Amilcar wrote. “Line 1 service is now operating on schedule and there are no anticipated impacts to service during this afternoon’s evening commute or into tomorrow.”

To compensate for the earlier delayed service, supplemental bus service was running between Tunney’s Pasture to downtown, Amilcar said in a morning memo.

At the start of the day around 5 a.m. on Jan. 27, OC Transpo said on social media that “delays may be experienced” but did not specify the cause.

“We are working to resolve the matter. Updates to follow,” the post said.

Around 7:45 a.m. OC Transpo repeated that delays may be experienced, and more updates were coming.

After the morning rush hour, Amilcar said, technicians kept working on the impacted switch, and “a brief system hold was put in place as further troubleshooting work took place which was not able to resolve the issue.”

Line 1 service has resumed, with trains using one track in the affected area.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/oc-transpo-o-train-line-1-delayed

[DTcrawler]

One of my colleagues did not come into the office today because they were under the impression the line was "shut down". I've said it before but of all the cities I've lived in, I've never seen such nuclear reactions to common, semi-regular hiccups to transit operations. Really doubt we'll ever be able to shed the notion that the line is "broken" and needs to be "fixed" with such attitudes. Meanwhile in Toronto, shuttle bus service barely even makes the news.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

One of my colleagues did not come into the office today because they were under the impression the line was "shut down". I've said it before but of all the cities I've lived in, I've never seen such nuclear reactions to common, semi-regular hiccups to transit operations. Really doubt we'll ever be able to shed the notion that the line is "broken" and needs to be "fixed" with such attitudes. Meanwhile in Toronto, shuttle bus service barely even makes the news.

It's completely redonkulous. QUICK! TO THE REDDIT!

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

One of my colleagues did not come into the office today because they were under the impression the line was "shut down". I've said it before but of all the cities I've lived in, I've never seen such nuclear reactions to common, semi-regular hiccups to transit operations. Really doubt we'll ever be able to shed the notion that the line is "broken" and needs to be "fixed" with such attitudes. Meanwhile in Toronto, shuttle bus service barely even makes the news.

The difference is that
a) in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, etc there are multiple lines, and parallel bus service in a lot of cases. OC Transpo has designed the system so that everyone pretty much has to use Line 1 for part of their journey if passing near the core, so it affects most riders.

b) CBTC is great most of the time, but when a problem occurs all trains everywhere on the line have to stop while they reprogram things. This is something people didn't experience on older legacy systems (they had different problems though)

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

The difference is that
a) in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, etc there are multiple lines, and parallel bus service in a lot of cases. OC Transpo has designed the system so that everyone pretty much has to use Line 1 for part of their journey if passing near the core, so it affects most riders.

b) CBTC is great most of the time, but when a problem occurs all trains everywhere on the line have to stop while they reprogram things. This is something people didn't experience on older legacy systems (they had different problems though)

Agree to an extent but when I lived in Toronto, and still to this day, TTC Line 1 is the only rapid transit line serving the downtown core of the city. When TTC Line 1 is disrupted in the "U" portion of the line, people cannot easily and seamlessly transfer to parallel streetcar or bus routes. And even if they can, those run in mixed traffic and don't really help the issue. And considering their pax volumes are many magnitudes larger than over here, our disruptions are a cakewalk compared to theirs. Google "ttc subway shuttle bus crowd" to get a sense of what they experience. And note that Toronto deals with a lot more than mechanical/technical issues - lots more security and medical incidents. Same in Vancouver and Montreal.

[AuxTown]

It's amazing the perception I hear from colleagues and patients...many of whom have never taken the O-Train! I'm not a regular user but I have probably taken it 25x and I'm batting 1000. Always waited less than 10 minutes (usually much less) and it got me to my destination with no drama. Like many things in life, it probably takes 10 years of reasonably consistent service to erase the drama of the first few years.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

It's amazing the perception I hear from colleagues and patients...many of whom have never taken the O-Train! I'm not a regular user but I have probably taken it 25x and I'm batting 1000. Always waited less than 10 minutes (usually much less) and it got me to my destination with no drama. Like many things in life, it probably takes 10 years of reasonably consistent service to erase the drama of the first few years.

I'm definitely not batting 1000 , but I'd agree people think it's worse than it is. People have also forgotten what it was like to wait an eternity on as Albert/Slater as you saw your bus glacially approach in that long line

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

The difference is that
a) in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, etc there are multiple lines, and parallel bus service in a lot of cases. OC Transpo has designed the system so that everyone pretty much has to use Line 1 for part of their journey if passing near the core, so it affects most riders.

This framing is often brought up, but it's not as if Ottawa doesn't have parallel service to the LRT. Everyone is more than welcome to use the 14 as a substitute for the LRT— except it's meant for local service and doesn't really do well as a substitute.

That's how "parallel bus service" in other cities looks too. It's not at all a substitute for an entire metro line, and service interruptions in other cities are also very disruptive.

Yes you can argue that, proportionally, an interruption on another system affects a smaller portion of the overall ridership— but in absolute numbers, those other systems are completely hosed when there's a break in service.

b) CBTC is great most of the time, but when a problem occurs all trains everywhere on the line have to stop while they reprogram things. This is something people didn't experience on older legacy systems (they had different problems though)

To an extent, stopping all trains is a feature, not a bug. It's not about "reprogramming" things, any more than that would be true in a legacy system, it's about service management.
If trains were to keep running during a momentary stop in service, you'd see trains start to bunch up and gaps start to form. The CBTC system is very good for recovering from these but even if the disruption only amounts to 5-10 minutes, letting trains bunch up in that time will still be very noticeable to passengers.

For longer delays, they can start to route trains around the problem using a single track. This is something very few other systems are capable of (and even fewer take advantage of). Most systems will simply stop service in the affected section in both directions and bridge the gap with buses. Others will continue to run trains in at least one direction, but that starts to create gaps in service.

There's trade-offs to everything. The best "perceived" way to handle an interruption may not actually be the best, so take your pick.

[BanjoUnchained]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

One of my colleagues did not come into the office today because they were under the impression the line was "shut down". I've said it before but of all the cities I've lived in, I've never seen such nuclear reactions to common, semi-regular hiccups to transit operations. Really doubt we'll ever be able to shed the notion that the line is "broken" and needs to be "fixed" with such attitudes. Meanwhile in Toronto, shuttle bus service barely even makes the news.

I think the problem is the complete lack of information from OCTranspo. Yesterday at 5am they sent out this alert: "Line 1 Alert: Delays may be experienced, as a result. We are working to resolve the matter. Updates to follow."
More than two hours later we got this: "ONGOING, Line 1 Alert: Delays may be experienced. We are working to resolve the matter. Updates to follow."

No mention of where the issues were, how severe the delays were or if there were replacement buses etc. So people went to reddit, where the LRT is always a catastrophe and made their decisions from there. If OC communicated better, maybe the perception of the train and system would be better.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

This framing is often brought up, but it's not as if Ottawa doesn't have parallel service to the LRT. Everyone is more than welcome to use the 14 as a substitute for the LRT— except it's meant for local service and doesn't really do well as a substitute.

That's how "parallel bus service" in other cities looks too. It's not at all a substitute for an entire metro line, and service interruptions in other cities are also very disruptive.

Yes you can argue that, proportionally, an interruption on another system affects a smaller portion of the overall ridership— but in absolute numbers, those other systems are completely hosed when there's a break in service.



To an extent, stopping all trains is a feature, not a bug. It's not about "reprogramming" things, any more than that would be true in a legacy system, it's about service management.
If trains were to keep running during a momentary stop in service, you'd see trains start to bunch up and gaps start to form. The CBTC system is very good for recovering from these but even if the disruption only amounts to 5-10 minutes, letting trains bunch up in that time will still be very noticeable to passengers.

For longer delays, they can start to route trains around the problem using a single track. This is something very few other systems are capable of (and even fewer take advantage of). Most systems will simply stop service in the affected section in both directions and bridge the gap with buses. Others will continue to run trains in at least one direction, but that starts to create gaps in service.

There's trade-offs to everything. The best "perceived" way to handle an interruption may not actually be the best, so take your pick.

I didn't mean that it was a bug, it actually is a feature. But it's contributing to perception at the moment. With legacy block signaling eventually all trains stop too, and for much longer. However for brief interruptions you might not notice under the legacy system.

As for bus parallels, yes there's the 11, 14, 6, 12 etc. But the system is generally designed to make people transfer.

Compare the TTCs system map
https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/D...pdf?rev=fa932d3709694a738b8e66dc0c671512

To the new ways to bus map

https://www.octranspo.com/images/files/m...ROUTE_REVIEW_2024_(MASTER)_19Aug2024.pdf

Generally in the TTC system, buses run along major streets and you transfer to the subway when it intersects.

Whereas the say the 11 on ours will make big diversions off it's route to connect to Line 1 at both Tunneys and Bayview, and to get up to Parliament and Lyon.

You can take the bus all the way in Ottawa, but it's obviously considered just a shuttle to get you to the train, not an actual way to make your journey

[kmcamp]

Anyway, they should straighten the routes through the core. Yes, they should have a connection with Line 1 at a couple key points, but the way they snake right now is terrible for bus riders, and only getting worse. Queen street is a nightmare, especially because they didn't give left turn priority for buses onto Bank from Queen, so things get clogged there. It makes for very poor alternate routings if you're avoiding Line 1.

Luckily I live in the south end, so for me I use the 6 when Line 1 is down and I want to avoid chaos at Bayview or Hurdman, and the 6 is a straight shot.