Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by DogsWithJobs

. . . I realized this as an issue when it was explained to me just how long it takes to get from somewhere relatively central like Overbrook to somewhere like the south end of little Italy where many people work. . . .

That was my commute for years. It used to be fairly reasonable when then Route 101 would take you from St. Laurent to Carling via the 417. Just one transfer (or I would often walk to St. Laurent). Now I just come to the conclusion that it's a much better / quicker bike ride. Even in the winter.

[rocketphish]

Delayed start for east-end LRT service scheduled for Feb. 9
The Confederation Line between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations will not launch until 11 a.m. that day.

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 31, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

OC Transpo says there will be service delays on O-Train Line 1 on Sunday, Feb. 9, for “planned Stage 2” work.

The agency says the line between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations will not launch until 11 a.m. that day.

The closure is necessary for “Stage 2 systems integration” to prepare Line 1 service to be extended from Blair Station to Trim Station as part of the O-Train East extension, it said in a release on Friday.

The work is to begin Saturday, Feb. 8, and continue through the night until the morning of Sunday, Feb. 9.

R1 replacement bus service will be in operation between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 9. In addition, shuttle bus service will run between St-Laurent and Cyrville stations and between Lees Station and Mackenzie King Bridge during the closure.

If work is completed ahead of schedule, Line 1 service may launch earlier than 11 a.m., OC Transpo said. R1 service would continue to run until 11:30 a.m. to accommodate all customers.

“We understand that this work can be disruptive and appreciate your patience as we perform necessary maintenance,” transit general manager Renée Amilcar said in a release.

“Every effort is being made to minimize impacts to customers.”

Details are available on the OC Transpo sites on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/delayed-start-east-end-lrt-service-feb-9

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Delayed start for east-end LRT service scheduled for Feb. 9
The Confederation Line between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations will not launch until 11 a.m. that day.

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 31, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

OC Transpo says there will be service delays on O-Train Line 1 on Sunday, Feb. 9, for “planned Stage 2” work.

The agency says the line between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations will not launch until 11 a.m. that day.

The closure is necessary for “Stage 2 systems integration” to prepare Line 1 service to be extended from Blair Station to Trim Station as part of the O-Train East extension, it said in a release on Friday.

The work is to begin Saturday, Feb. 8, and continue through the night until the morning of Sunday, Feb. 9.

R1 replacement bus service will be in operation between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 9. In addition, shuttle bus service will run between St-Laurent and Cyrville stations and between Lees Station and Mackenzie King Bridge during the closure.

If work is completed ahead of schedule, Line 1 service may launch earlier than 11 a.m., OC Transpo said. R1 service would continue to run until 11:30 a.m. to accommodate all customers.

“We understand that this work can be disruptive and appreciate your patience as we perform necessary maintenance,” transit general manager Renée Amilcar said in a release.

“Every effort is being made to minimize impacts to customers.”

Details are available on the OC Transpo sites on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/delayed-start-east-end-lrt-service-feb-9

There were previously complaints (here on the forum, if I am not mistaken) about the work being done on the weekends instead of overnight. This release makes it much more clear that the work is a continuation of overnight work, and Sunday makes sense for that. I would guess previous Sunday morning closures were structured the same but not publicized as well.

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by Catenary

There were previously complaints (here on the forum, if I am not mistaken) about the work being done on the weekends instead of overnight. This release makes it much more clear that the work is a continuation of overnight work, and Sunday makes sense for that. I would guess previous Sunday morning closures were structured the same but not publicized as well.

Was just thinking the same thing (I've been one of the complainants in the past for sure). OC Transpo would save themselves a lot of vitriol if they were just more transparent and communicative about these things (and everything else).

They didn't do themselves any favours on Wednesday with that closure near Blair station caused by a driver hitting a gas line off the 174. Their social media posts just said "gas leak" but if I were them, I'd have unashamedly posted a pic of the driver in the ditch and said, "blame THIS guy for slowing down your commute, not us!". And of course given the heavy snowfall that morning, people were quick to pull the "Line 1 breaks every time it snows" line. Although I suppose the snow did, indirectly, cause the closure.

Similarly, there have been delays due to security incidents, medical emergencies, track intrusions, etc. Letting the public know the exact reason for given delay would avoid a lot of the braindead comments on social media blaming the snow, the trains, the agency, etc.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

Was just thinking the same thing (I've been one of the complainants in the past for sure). OC Transpo would save themselves a lot of vitriol if they were just more transparent and communicative about these things (and everything else).

They didn't do themselves any favours on Wednesday with that closure near Blair station caused by a driver hitting a gas line off the 174. Their social media posts just said "gas leak" but if I were them, I'd have unashamedly posted a pic of the driver in the ditch and said, "blame THIS guy for slowing down your commute, not us!". And of course given the heavy snowfall that morning, people were quick to pull the "Line 1 breaks every time it snows" line. Although I suppose the snow did, indirectly, cause the closure.

Similarly, there have been delays due to security incidents, medical emergencies, track intrusions, etc. Letting the public know the exact reason for given delay would avoid a lot of the braindead comments on social media blaming the snow, the trains, the agency, etc.

This is all a learning experience and hopefully they continue to learn as they go. Every time the line is shut down for any reason I assume (hope) there is a meeting to discuss ways to avoid it in the future. For example, puting massive bollards around any exposed gas lines anywhere near the LRT line. Seems like common sense now, but maybe they didn't see a collision as being possible.

[kmcamp]

I was just noticing how Stage 2 stations cheaped out in different ways.

Line 2 stations of course lack the Lantern and platform cover, but mimic the flowing roofs of the original stations and floor to ceiling glass



Line 1 east stations have the lantern, but use metal fake wood ceilings like Line 2, but have perfectly flat roofs, don't use floor to ceiling glass, and leave staircases exposed (it seems escalators are exposed too, but I'm wondering if that's just temporary)



Line 1 west have wood ceilings like the old stations, and lanterns, but also lack floor to ceiling glass and also expose staircases via metal bar railings and escalators to the elements. They have mostly flat roofs, but the occasional peak here and there

[J.OT13]

Weird that they put metal for the ceilings in the east, but wood in the west. Personally prefer the metal as it's less maintenance and you get less spiderwebs and grime in between.

For the glass that doesn't go all the way up, I think that's by design for ventilation.

Elevator shrouds were a problem with Stage 1 from a maintenance perspective, so hopefully they did it better this time. Overall, I'm reasonably satisfied with the consistent design language and minor value engineering.

Just wish they kept New Orchard underground and added the at Algonquin as was intended when they built the tunnel 15 years ago.

[OTownandDown]

Hopefully less wood than the 1st phase. The stuff is peeling all over the place already. Not a cheap replacement (although we've yet to see how RTG is going to do major capital repairs?)

Hurdman is my local station, and concrete is starting to have rust stains, major superstructure columns are losing their coatings (rusting) and the architectural features cover everything so that there's no access to clean and coat the structural frame. Going to be 'spensive to repair.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Hopefully less wood than the 1st phase. The stuff is peeling all over the place already. Not a cheap replacement (although we've yet to see how RTG is going to do major capital repairs?)

Hurdman is my local station, and concrete is starting to have rust stains, major superstructure columns are losing their coatings (rusting) and the architectural features cover everything so that there's no access to clean and coat the structural frame. Going to be 'spensive to repair.

Possibly relatedly, but this business of having to completely dismantle, do SOMETHING, then remantle the Parliament ceilng art thingies - was that in the plans?

[YOWhopeful]

Question: Why are the stations filthy?

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by YOWhopeful

Question: Why are the stations filthy?

Three main reasons:

1) over-salting / general winter grime and lack of pressure washing in the spring, leading to the problem compounding year after year

2) leaks at underground/trenched stations leading to staining from water infiltration

3) incompetent cleaning staff. It's impressive to watch them wipe down glass with water that looks like untreated sewage, leaving the glass more streaky/grimy than it was before. Bonus is the "floor zambonis" they use which leave circular scratches on the floor tiles because they don't bother to sweep up the gravel/salt beforehand.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

Three main reasons:

1) over-salting / general winter grime and lack of pressure washing in the spring, leading to the problem compounding year after year

2) leaks at underground/trenched stations leading to staining from water infiltration

3) incompetent cleaning staff. It's impressive to watch them wipe down glass with water that looks like untreated sewage, leaving the glass more streaky/grimy than it was before. Bonus is the "floor zambonis" they use which leave circular scratches on the floor tiles because they don't bother to sweep up the gravel/salt beforehand.

Reminds me of my days in high school working at the grocery store. I was a cart monkey but also doubled as cleaning crew. I'd get called "clean-up on aisle 3" and I would show up with a mop bucket that looked like industrial/nuclear waste. Sometimes I would just add some hot water to the bucket when it was getting low so it would be like a steaming poisonous bog :-)

Anyway, the stations are gross and need a proper cleaning 1-2x per year. It's like my garage floor (where we park 2 cars all year). I give it the mega treatment every spring and fall or else it starts to get really dirty!

[YOWhopeful]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

Three main reasons:

1) over-salting / general winter grime and lack of pressure washing in the spring, leading to the problem compounding year after year

2) leaks at underground/trenched stations leading to staining from water infiltration

3) incompetent cleaning staff. It's impressive to watch them wipe down glass with water that looks like untreated sewage, leaving the glass more streaky/grimy than it was before. Bonus is the "floor zambonis" they use which leave circular scratches on the floor tiles because they don't bother to sweep up the gravel/salt beforehand.

Got it!
This whole confederation line is a big disappointment. We had such high hopes. I don’t dare ask about the screeching sounds in the tunnel between Lyon and Rideau (that’s my itinerary). I guess the rail alignment or ball bearings or whatever it is, it’s just something we have to live with…

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by YOWhopeful

Got it!
This whole confederation line is a big disappointment. We had such high hopes. I don’t dare ask about the screeching sounds in the tunnel between Lyon and Rideau (that’s my itinerary). I guess the rail alignment or ball bearings or whatever it is, it’s just something we have to live with…

The screeching is just the reality of using low-floor trains. Trains produce steel-on-steel friction and when that occurs, mainly around curves, there’s going to be screeching. I don’t think it necessarily correlates to the bearing/axle issues - that seems to be a myth perpetuated by reddit. To be honest I’m surprised the screeching still gets as much attention as it does - I thought people would have gotten over it by now. I’ve used subways that have similar levels of screeching despite being high floor, heavy rail rolling stock, though vibration is much less pronounced. Toronto, NYC, London are three that come to mind.

Apart from the rolling stock, every other issue could be fixed in the short-medium term with some political will. Cleaning could be fixed overnight if they wanted to. The axle/bearing re-design work seems to have been halted for dubious reasons (evidenced by the fact that speed restrictions still remain). Frequency could be restored to originally promised levels if they wanted to - though I assume part of the reason for reduced headways is easing the maintenance burden related to the axle/bearing issue. Same thing with single-car trains on weekend. Other than that, I can’t really think of any part of the system that falls short of expectations. But I guess that depends on what your expectations were.

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Reminds me of my days in high school working at the grocery store. I was a cart monkey but also doubled as cleaning crew. I'd get called "clean-up on aisle 3" and I would show up with a mop bucket that looked like industrial/nuclear waste. Sometimes I would just add some hot water to the bucket when it was getting low so it would be like a steaming poisonous bog :-)

Anyway, the stations are gross and need a proper cleaning 1-2x per year. It's like my garage floor (where we park 2 cars all year). I give it the mega treatment every spring and fall or else it starts to get really dirty!

Being at a grocery store and hearing staff plead repeatedly over the PA for "United Cleaners to the front for a spill" is exactly how I imagine RTM staff have to deal with the Line 1 cleaning contractor "Bee Clean" to do their job.

I remember back in 2019 when John Manconi proudly declared that Line 1 construction and testing activities had been "successfully"() completed and the last thing left to do was perform a deep clean of every square inch of the system before the grand opening to the public. I remember riding the line on opening day and being surprised by the amount of grime around the stations, which I chalked up to leftovers from construction that'd soon be remedied. Spoiler alert...

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

The screeching is just the reality of using low-floor trains. Trains produce steel-on-steel friction and when that occurs, mainly around curves, there’s going to be screeching. I don’t think it necessarily correlates to the bearing/axle issues - that seems to be a myth perpetuated by reddit. To be honest I’m surprised the screeching still gets as much attention as it does - I thought people would have gotten over it by now. I’ve used subways that have similar levels of screeching despite being high floor, heavy rail rolling stock, though vibration is much less pronounced. Toronto, NYC, London are three that come to mind.

Apart from the rolling stock, every other issue could be fixed in the short-medium term with some political will. Cleaning could be fixed overnight if they wanted to. The axle/bearing re-design work seems to have been halted for dubious reasons (evidenced by the fact that speed restrictions still remain). Frequency could be restored to originally promised levels if they wanted to - though I assume part of the reason for reduced headways is easing the maintenance burden related to the axle/bearing issue. Same thing with single-car trains on weekend. Other than that, I can’t really think of any part of the system that falls short of expectations. But I guess that depends on what your expectations were.

The screeching is totally normal. People should ride the green line in boston if you think the Confed line screechiness is bad or that it's slow. They'll come back with a new appreciation. I think in Ottawa people end up thinking of the Montreal Metro and it's relative quiet from being on rubber tires. Even though I'm sure all of us have been on the subway in Toronto, most people have ridden the Metro far more, so it's probably what's fresher in their minds.


What's a bigger problem with the confed line is a lack of trust, so even things that are just minor parts of normal train operation are glaring flaws to the general population. Even it's reliability record lately is fairly normal, but the derailments and long term shutdowns are fresh in people's minds. It will take a long time.

There's also the fact that trains are still a relatively new phenomenom to Ottawans (despite the old Trillium line). I remember not realizing how often elevators broke down until I lived in a few apartment buildings. It's different riding a train in a distant city as a tourist for a few days, versus living with one day in and out.

[OTownandDown]

I thought RTG skipped cleaning maintenance because the City skipped payments for the first several months.

And then nothing more happened?

The problem with lack of cleaning is compounded with the de-icing salts. The entire system is going to deteriorate that much faster without cleaning. We already see corrosion EVERYWHERE.

So what's going to happen, can anyone speculate? In 15 more years when structural repairs are required at the platforms and at the canopies, who will be on the hook? How will RTG sue their way out of millions in repairs. And how do the taxpayers guarantee that their repair will be done well, so we don't foot the bill when the agreement ends?

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

I thought RTG skipped cleaning maintenance because the City skipped payments for the first several months.

And then nothing more happened?

The problem with lack of cleaning is compounded with the de-icing salts. The entire system is going to deteriorate that much faster without cleaning. We already see corrosion EVERYWHERE.

So what's going to happen, can anyone speculate? In 15 more years when structural repairs are required at the platforms and at the canopies, who will be on the hook? How will RTG sue their way out of millions in repairs. And how do the taxpayers guarantee that their repair will be done well, so we don't foot the bill when the agreement ends?

Considering it's RTG(/RTM) who both built the system, and are the ones spreading salt like mad because the heated platforms never worked as advertised, I don't see how the city would be on the hook at all.

[jchilds72]

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/oc-transpo-lrt-daytime-service

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by jchilds72

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/oc-transpo-lrt-daytime-service

Less frequent daytime service on Line 1 likely here to stay: OC Transpo
In a cost-cutting measure introduced late last summer, OC Transpo halved service on Line 1 outside of the morning and afternoon rush hours.

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 10, 2025 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 1 minute read

Less frequent train service during off-peak hours on the Confederation Line appears to be here to stay.

In a cost-cutting measure introduced late last summer, OC Transpo halved service on Line 1 outside of the morning and afternoon rush hours, reducing frequency to every 10 minutes instead of every five minutes. The move saves OC Transpo $1.6 million a year, but was unpopular with customers.

In response, council ordered OC Transpo to study its passenger loads to make sure the cut was justified. In a memo to the mayor and members of council on Monday, transit general manager Renée Amilcar said that, though ridership was down slightly, fewer trains had not led to overcrowding.

“Based on the data shared in this memo, sufficient capacity is currently being provided on O-Train Line 1 during off-peak periods to meet demand,” Amilcar wrote in her Feb. 10 report.

The service reduction went into effect on Aug. 26 and reduced capacity from 7,200 passengers per hour to 3,600 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. Rush-hour service stayed the same with a train every five minutes.

The analysis found trains were at 58 per cent capacity during peak periods and 67 per cent capacity in off-peak periods. In addition, staff monitored station platforms by CCTV to see how crowded they were. They found in only one instance of their 140 observations were the platforms deemed to be crowded, and that was when a stopped train had partially disrupted service.

While ridership did dip slightly below expected in the months after the reduction, it didn’t affect revenue because most riders buy pre-paid fares, Amilcar said.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/oc-transpo-lrt-daytime-service