Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[J.OT13]

Wonder if the delay is related to discussion surrounding who will be on the hook for the sinkhole(s), the replacement of the Ash wood and, well, the delays. That along with anything else we might not know about.

I could understand the first few delays. Anything more than a year is too much. We're passing by an essentially completed transit line everyday and we can't use it. This is getting frustrating.

[Hamada]

Is it true the handover date will be delayed??

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

A good friend of mine works on the light rail project. Privately he says that they won't be ready for a March or even April handover. Apparently something happened in the city's light rail office a few weeks or a couple of months ago that really complicated the whole handover timeline.

Great. So no service till the summer. Maybe they will go for the big Canada Day launch in "late Spring".

(Yes I know Canada Day is summer....).

[lrt's friend]

Edmonton had major problems with signalling that delayed their last project for a lengthy period of time and we are using the same signalling system. Could that be the problem?

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Edmonton had major problems with signalling that delayed their last project for a lengthy period of time and we are using the same signalling system. Could that be the problem?

It's already been posted multiple times that the main issue in Edmonton was that the signaling system had never been used with at-grade crossings before. We don't have that issue in Ottawa and the system is already proven elsewhere.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

It's already been posted multiple times that the main issue in Edmonton was that the signaling system had never been used with at-grade crossings before. We don't have that issue in Ottawa and the system is already proven elsewhere.

I realize that was a complication in Edmonton, which I understand has not been fully resolved. If signalling is not the issue, then what is? I just presented that as possibly the most technically complex part of the project.

[orleans_man]

I have noticed over the last couple of weeks (on a number of different occasions) that there were "lineman"/"trucks" on the tracks - not sure what for. Maybe it makes perfect sense, just thought I would be seeing more "train" testing, as opposed to track work or work on the power system at this point? Maybe just tuning/troubleshooting - but again seems like they should have had these type of issues sorted by this point?

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Edmonton had major problems with signalling that delayed their last project for a lengthy period of time and we are using the same signalling system. Could that be the problem?

That's not the problem. I can't say what it is or it might come back at my friend and I don't want to risk that.

I can tell you that its cause is much more banal than a signalling system. Sounds like some people are working to keep to the original timeline but I doubt they'll be successful.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Edmonton had major problems with signalling that delayed their last project for a lengthy period of time and we are using the same signalling system. Could that be the problem?

They've done some major testing, and that would have been apparent by now.

[Ottawa Champ]

Draft travel planner and schedules with Confereration Line in operation has been posted. 4 minute at peak frequencies for the Confed Line.

http://www.octranspo.com/ready4rail/how_will_it_change_my_trip

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Ottawa Champ

Draft travel planner and schedules with Confereration Line in operation has been posted. 4 minute at peak frequencies for the Confed Line.

If it's actually 4min peak frequency then it'll be far better than waiting 15 minutes for two buses to show up at once that should be showing up every seven mins.

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by Ottawa Champ

Draft travel planner and schedules with Confereration Line in operation has been posted. 4 minute at peak frequencies for the Confed Line.

http://www.octranspo.com/ready4rail/how_will_it_change_my_trip

OH WOW, I can't wait for the train to start operation!

My trip time will be reduced by ONE MINUTE! WOOHOO!

Oh wait, but it's reduced by one minute from the f*cked up route my bus currently takes because the transitway is closed.

It's actually 10 minutes longer than pre-construction time.

WOOHOO! Train! (Sarcasm)

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Ottawa Champ

Draft travel planner and schedules with Confereration Line in operation has been posted. 4 minute at peak frequencies for the Confed Line.

http://www.octranspo.com/ready4rail/how_will_it_change_my_trip

Not just peak; seems to be every 4 minutes all day, only tapering down starting at 9:30pm. Every 8 minutes until 11pm; every 15 after that.

[J.OT13]

I'd save one minute in the morning and evening would stay the same. Remember though, that's on paper. Buses are subject to heavy delays downtown due to weather, protests and others. That's not taken into consideration by the Travel Planner. Trains will be nearly 100% consistent.

[lrt's friend]

After a year of non-answer from my city councilor, it is confirmed that it will be two transfers to get downtown except in peak hours. Yahoo!!!! Even the peak hours are being reduced slightly from today's express service.

I made a trip plan which gives two minutes to transfer. Sounds like even a slight delay will blow that away, and then I have to wait an additional 30 minutes.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I'd save one minute in the morning and evening would stay the same. Remember though, that's on paper. Buses are subject to heavy delays downtown due to weather, protests and others. That's not taken into consideration by the Travel Planner. Trains will be nearly 100% consistent.

I wouldn't be that confident. With rail, any delay cascades. Fortunately, trains run every 4 minutes most of the time, but if you only have 2 minutes to make your bus transfer, good luck.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I'd save one minute in the morning and evening would stay the same. Remember though, that's on paper. Buses are subject to heavy delays downtown due to weather, protests and others. That's not taken into consideration by the Travel Planner. Trains will be nearly 100% consistent.

Because i'm a 🞵🞵🞵🞵 i've been manually timing my commute based on connections over the past few months, so i'll be interested to see how the train stacks up since it's wedging itself into the middle of most of my commutes.

[lrt's friend]

Route 6 service cut on weekends to every half hour in many hours south of Billings. Confederation Line not running to 2 am as promised on Saturday nights.

[J.OT13]

If the trains are delayed, it will be exponentially worse than it is with buses, but that might happen once or twice a year for whatever reason, assuming the signalling system works as advertised.

The trip home should prove to be the more challenging one, but let's compare. Status quo sees us standing on the sidewalk with hundreds more people in the heat, cold, rain, snow, fog... trying to look over the crowds to figure out which of the 40 buses arriving at the bus stop is yours. Once your on the bus, it's anyone's guess how much time it will take to get home. Could be the estimated 50 minutes, could be an hour and a half.

Fast-forward to after the Line's opening. You might have to walk a little further to get to the station, but once your inside, your protected from the elements. Go down to the platform using the stairs, escalator or elevator. You only have to wait 4 minutes tops for your train. Any train (after Stage 2, it could be up to 6-8 minutes for those headed west). You arrive at the transfer station and head to the bus platform. Your bus will be stopping at a pre-determined spot. No more guessing. You might have to wait up to 15 minutes, as is the case today waiting downtown, but at least you don't have to stress with where or when the bus will arrive.

I realize that those who will have to transfer to Line 2 will have a different experience. Likely have a train-train-bus trip (or train-bus-bus while Line 2 is closed). For the majority of those who work downtown and live in the burbs, it should be more reliable at least.

[OCCheetos]

Some observations from playing around with the planner:

If you're headed eastbound from Bayview it will tell you to board a westbound train and then stay on that train since it will be doing a return trip immediately afterwards.
This might suggest that only one of the platforms at Tunney's will be used initially (and tbh that makes perfect sense).


This was another suggestion for the same trip... uhhh. Only ~10 minutes longer though! (90 is the current 87 right?)