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

[OCCheetos]

To keep the Confederation Line thread from going too far off topic:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I wholeheartedly agree that Stage 2 Trillium falls way short of what is needed for now and into the future, especially considering the density proposed for the Bayview to Carleton section. The further we extend, the harder and more expensive it will be to double track and electrify. With the money being invested as part of Stage 2, they should be:

a. Double tracking from Bayview to the Airport or;
b. Double tracking and electrifying the current line, with the addition of Gladstone and Walkley.

I think as part of the work being done for Stage 2 they should do all of the work required to widen the trench North of the tunnel. No extra track, or even a track bed, just the widening of the tench. As long as that gets done, the rest of the double tracking could be done in the future with limited to no shutdowns.

My main concern is the lack of track upgrades between Mooney's and Greenboro. The passing track at Brookfield is only being extended by a whopping 100m (not a lot when you consider that the trains will be 80m long). I timed the trains as they are now when they travel between Greenboro and Brookfield a few months ago and with the way the trains are operated now it seems like the requirement for trains to do the stretch between South Keys and Brookfield in 6 minutes will be really tight.

For comparison: the distance between South Keys and Brookfield is roughly 2.5km, which is roughly the same distance as going between uOttawa and Tremblay on the Confederation Line. According to the new travel planner, it will take 6 minutes to travel from uOttawa to Tremblay on the new line. Now if that's going to take 6 minutes, what will it take a diesel-electric train (or even full diesel) on a line with a history of terrible signal upgrade issues running on a single track where running meets won't be possible? I'll be happy if we can keep the 12 minute frequencies we have now.

Also for comparison: they're expecting trains to be able to make the trip between Brookfield and Carleton in 6 minutes which is totally reasonable. Mooney's to Carleton is 3 minutes, add 1 minute for the travel time from Brookfield to Mooney's and then the 90+ seconds of dwell time at Carleton and you've got 6 minutes. But then compare that to what they're expecting between South Keys and Brookfield. Am I just being crazy?

Anyway, electrification is unnecessary for the time being. Diesel-electric trains will be fine, and perhaps even some of the battery trains that are becoming popular now. Electrification at some point in the future: yes, but definitely not a must like double tracking (or at least more track upgrades).