This was supposed to be the Year of the Train. It wasn't.
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: December 27, 2018
This year was one of disasters, tragedy, boondoggles and love. From wild politics to wild winds to a Senators team that couldn’t stay out of the news, 2018 was filled with twists and the unexpected. It was also a year in which the whole city paused to mourn, after losing its Butterfly Boy. In 2018, some narratives transfixed us, while others dominated our conversations — and here, in our annual newsmakers series, we return to examine the year’s biggest stories. Today, the train that never came.
Two city slogans died in what was supposed to be the Year of the Train: “On track 2018” and “on budget and on time.”
LRT trains are running today, but not with any fare-paying passengers. The tests on the 12.5-kilometre Confederation Line continue and Canadian taxpayers, who through the federal, Ontario and Ottawa municipal budgets have provided $2.1 billion to build the transit system, wait for the day to ride the rails.
There were two times in 2018 when city hall expected to take ownership of the LRT system from the Rideau Transit Group but instead had to deliver bad news to residents.
The first contracted handover date was May 24, and although the city never really released an opening date, it probably would have been around the middle of 2018. The June 2016 sinkhole on Rideau Street has been cited as the main reason why the LRT system couldn’t be finished on time. Councillors were shocked the city couldn’t apply a $1-million penalty to RTG for missing a deadline.
The city and RTG settled on a new handover deadline, Nov. 2. If the city received the keys to the LRT system on that date, it could have opened the rail line by the end of November.
Over the summer and in early fall, it became clear to ordinary Ottawa residents that there was no way RTG could deliver a completed LRT system by Nov. 2. Queen Street was still under construction, Rideau Street didn’t look ready for a crush of LRT customers entering and exiting the station, and the western stations, especially Tunney’s Pasture and Bayview, were nowhere near completion.
City officials, including Mayor Jim Watson, noticed the pace of construction wasn’t meeting the November schedule. By the start of September, RTG was calling city staff proposing a new schedule. Staff then delivered the news publicly to councillors that there was no way the LRT system would be ready in 2018.
The second deadline in November was symbolic since it was at the end of the four-year council term. It would have been a nice bookend for municipal politicians to ride the first trains and cut the ribbon, etching their places in history as the council that opened Ottawa’s electric rapid rail line.
It was with some relief that councillors learned the city was contractually in a position where it could, this time, apply the $1-million penalty.
Now, people are waiting to hear when they can expect the Confederation Line to open in 2019. The city’s best guess is by the end of March. RTG was to tell the city by Jan. 2, 2019 when it could deliver the LRT system.
Going into the new year, the city still doesn’t have any assurances that budget overruns tied to the delays will be covered by RTG. The city could save nearly $1 million from the delay, largely because it doesn’t pay for LRT maintenance when the LRT system isn’t running yet.
However, that rosy projection assumes the city can recoup $25 million from RTG under provisions of the contract. The city has swallowed extra costs for running downtown bus detours, operating the O-Train construction office and missing out on fare revenue from an expected ridership bump. The city and RTG are negotiating the money.
At this point, after more than five years of construction and daily headaches of downtown bus jams and snarled traffic, OC Transpo customers and car commuters alike are looking forward to a finished train system.
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