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

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I realize this, but it's the most obvious spot on the line that once had freight service. Maybe Carleton will want a freight siding some day!

I would actually like to see Ottawa and Gatineau work together with CN or CP to subsidize overnight, intermodal service to Ottawa and Gatineau (to and from other cities, especially Toronto and Montreal) as a way of reducing truck traffic across the river, optimally using equipment similar to what CP used on its expressway service, that doesn’t require the use of specially reinforced truck trailers or containers.

[Reecemartin]

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[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

A little confused here, assuming when we say shuttle we are saying the train will only run between the airport and the main line and split will just be a traditional service where half of trains run to each termini, with this in mind does that mean that people travelling from the airport will need to transfer twice to get downtown???

Yup. That is a huge bone of contention both here and in the media. While not good, I don't think the transfer at South Keys will be as bad as people think, as the trains will be timed to arrive within a minute or two of each other to make the transfers as painless as possible and with a centre platform, you just need to walk across it (or possibly off and then on the next train on the same track).

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Its certainly not the end of the world however it does take away a lot of the convenience factor often associated with Airport trains, every other one in Canada is direct to Downtown and quite quick, one would hope that eventually the airport becomes the mainline as was mentioned.

That being said I really like the FLIRTS and think they will actually be a very unique sight to see rolling around North America, Ottawa much less.

Has any construction etc. on this project started? Any renders or detailed alignment plans for the seg into the airport?

The way we are designing things, it will never be possible to have direct service from the airport to downtown. The proposed Flirt trains will not be compatible with the low floor LRVs on the Confederation Line.

Construction has not started. It is expected to begin in 2019.

[Reecemartin]

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[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Its certainly not the end of the world however it does take away a lot of the convenience factor often associated with Airport trains, every other one in Canada is direct to Downtown and quite quick, one would hope that eventually the airport becomes the mainline as was mentioned.

That being said I really like the FLIRTS and think they will actually be a very unique sight to see rolling around North America, Ottawa much less.

Has any construction etc. on this project started? Any renders or detailed alignment plans for the seg into the airport?

Construction is scheduled to start next spring with the closure of the Trillium Line. I think the only renderings available are from 3 years ago, so it's possible things have changed.

Probably unrelated, but last time I was at Greenboro to catch the O Train (a few weeks ago) it looked like a red sign had been placed on the tracks south of the station. From my perspective, it looked like the sign had been stuck right in the middle of the tracks which is usually an indication of track work (I think).

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Has the train order actually been placed?

There haven't been any press releases on the Stadler website yet...

[Reecemartin]

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[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Can you link those Airport renders/plans? If they plan to be getting new trains by 2021 they better get on that . .

This is about as good as there is (page 18).

While the main line will use 80+m trains, the airport spur will only use the shorter 41m LINT trains. FLIRTs will only operate on the main line.

Edit:
A slightly better quality version of the drawing can be found on page 53 of this document.

[OCCheetos]

Not sure if this document has been posted yet. I don't think it's listed on the Stage 2 website?
http://cdn.wsp-pb.com/u5wdrq/trillium-line-environmental-project-report.pdf

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Construction is scheduled to start next spring with the closure of the Trillium Line. I think the only renderings available are from 3 years ago, so it's possible things have changed.

Probably unrelated, but last time I was at Greenboro to catch the O Train (a few weeks ago) it looked like a red sign had been placed on the tracks south of the station. From my perspective, it looked like the sign had been stuck right in the middle of the tracks which is usually an indication of track work (I think).

Likely unrelated. They've been trenching for cable ducts along the south connecting track during the day, and onto the main line at night. All of this ties into the new signals in the yard.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Its certainly not the end of the world however it does take away a lot of the convenience factor often associated with Airport trains, every other one in Canada is direct to Downtown and quite quick, one would hope that eventually the airport becomes the mainline as was mentioned.

That being said I really like the FLIRTS and think they will actually be a very unique sight to see rolling around North America, Ottawa much less.

Has any construction etc. on this project started? Any renders or detailed alignment plans for the seg into the airport?

To be fair, in case of Toronto, one UPX station downtown doesn't mean much in terms of convenience - for 5x the price you still have to transfer to get anywhere other than Union station. And transferring from UPX to TTC is quite a bit more complicated than just walking across the platform.
Also let's not forget Terminal Link train - that's another transfer for you.
So in Toronto you'd need to ride 1-3 trains, all belonging to different authorities, to get to your final stop, while in Ottawa that'd be 2-3 all belonging to the same one.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Have we actually heard whether or not the Ellwood Diamond separation is part of Phase 2? I've heard competing things on this point.

I sent an e-mail to "The Stage 2 Team" about this and received the following response a while back but never got around to post it until now.

Yes, a grade-separated LRT alignment is being proposed that will cross over the VIA alignment at Ellwood Diamond as part of the Stage 2 LRT Project. This refinement to the original Trillium Line Extension Planning and Environmental Assessment Study will be subject to a project report addendum that will be released for public comment later this summer.

So it sounds like they want to, but it hasn't been confirmed.

I replied with OCCheetos's question about converting the Walkley Diamond an OWLS Diamond.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Yeah but in the case of Toronto its more due to size than poor planning . . . not to mention those transfers are all indoor in a climate controlled building.

And while the link train is necessary for T3 it comes every 2 minutes or so.

The actual train trip also features luggage racks (something that would be a nice touch in one corner of trillium line trains) as well as Wifi.

And then while you do transfer at Union its certainly not Bayview in Ottawa, several major attractions are within walking distance and most of the downtown core is also accessible via a walk in the path.

TLDR: Theres a difference between transferring between MAJOR indoor hubs with numerous services vs. relatively insignificant Otrain stations.

And there are many hotels, and office buildings within walking distance of Union Station in Toronto.

When I plan my travels, I often specifically chose a hotel within easy walking distance of a central railway station. In the last few years, I did that in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Prague, Oslo, Bergen and Copenhagen.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by roger1818

I sent an e-mail to "The Stage 2 Team" about this and received the following response a while back but never got around to post it until now.



So it sounds like they want to, but it hasn't been confirmed.

I replied with OCCheetos's question about converting the Walkley Diamond an OWLS Diamond.

Notice it says that it will 'cross over' the VIA Rail Line. Wasn't there a previous assumption that it would run under the VIA Rail Line? Furthermore, wasn't this the same idea from the 2006 N-S plan that was panned by so many as creating a 'roller coaster'?

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Notice it says that it will 'cross over' the VIA Rail Line. Wasn't there a previous assumption that it would run under the VIA Rail Line? Furthermore, wasn't this the same idea from the 2006 N-S plan that was panned by so many as creating a 'roller coaster'?

May have just been an assumption on their part. They haven't completed the Environmental Assessment yet. That will decide which is better. Even then there could be local push back. For example, for the Merivale Rd VIA Rail crossing, the EA says the road will go under the tracks, but the local community association is fighting that for fear it would destroy the aquifer (they are all on well water).

[OCCheetos]

It's crazy to think about how that grade crossing might work. There are so many at-grade and grade-separated crossings in that area I can only imagine that they'll all need to be modified in order to get a reasonable clearance for VIA trains under the Trillium Line overpass.

Hopefully if/when they construct the separation, they build it to accommodate double tracking for the future.

[Reecemartin]

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