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

[J.OT13]

Sure looks like the job posting is related to Stage 2 roll-out.

EDIT: Here's the list of RFQ finalists back in 2017. SNC-Lavalin was flying solo at the time.

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

City releases shortlist of builders vying to extend Trillium Line

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 17, 2017 | Last Updated: July 17, 2017 4:04 PM EDT
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...f-builders-vying-to-extend-trillium-line

The city has shortlisted three finalists to extend the O-Train’s north-south Trillium Line.

In a memo sent to city council on Monday, city manager Steve Kanellakos says the rail department has pre-qualified two new consortiums, as well as a single firm, to extend the Trillium Line to Riverside South and build a separate spur to the Ottawa International Airport by 2021. The detailed bid documents for the project were to be released Monday.

As with the Rideau Transit Group consortium that won the contract to build the $2.1-billion Confederation LRT Line, two of the finalists are corporate groups assembled specifically for the Ottawa work.

The finalists are:

• Trillium Link (made up of eight companies, including Spanish infrastructure builder ACCIONA, Spanish railway vehicle and equipment maker CAF, Ottawa construction firm Thomas Cavanagh and Ottawa’s GRC Architects)
• Trillium Extension Alliance (made up of seven companies, including Australian infrastructure builder Plenary, French road and rail company Colas and local construction firm Tomlinson)
• TransitNEXT (made up of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin)

The city wants to tweak the proposed extension of the Trillium Line to bring trains almost a kilometre closer to fast-growing Riverside South as part of the Stage 2 transit program.

The current blueprint has the Trillium Line stopping at a rural area along Bowesville Road, but a plan unveiled earlier this month would add about 800 metres of LRT track and move the station and park-and-ride lot south to Earl Armstrong Road.

Such an extension is beyond what the city can currently afford, but city officials have said they hope to work with the private-sector developers to see if partnerships can be found to accelerate the work, which is estimated to cost about $40 million (including the purchase of an additional train).

In June, the city announced it had shortlisted three international construction consortiums to bid on extending the Confederation Line west to Bayshore and Baseline and east to Trim Road by 2023.

In all, the next phase of rail and all its add-ons are supposed to cost $3.6 billion.

According to Kanellakos’s memo, awarding contracts for both procurements is expected next year, with construction to begin by spring 2019.

[email protected]
twitter.com/mpearson78

[waterloowarrior]

Stage 2 recommendation supposed to be late Jan or early Feb. FEDCO's next meeting Feb 12 - agenda should be up next week.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Stage 2 recommendation supposed to be late Jan or early Feb. FEDCO's next meeting Feb 12 - agenda should be up next week.

Watson mentioned at the NCC Board Meeting that Committee and Council will vote on Stage 2 in a month and a half.

I'm assuming staff recommendations will be made public within the next two weeks, staff will be making a formal presentation to FEDCO on February 12th and Council will have about a month to go through the reports before making an informed decision in mid-March?

[OCCheetos]

https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/status/1090637440287617024?s=19

Recommendation will be presented to Council on the 27th of February for approval.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/status/1090637440287617024?s=19

Recommendation will be presented to Council on the 27th of February for approval.

Finally a little bit of movement.

[Gat-Train]

Aren't the Confederation and Trillium extensions separate projects and separate contracts? I understand not wanting to finalize a contract for the Confederation Line before Stage 1 opens, but surely there's nothing preventing work on the T-line (or at least not the extensions that don't require shut-downs)

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Gat-Train

Aren't the Confederation and Trillium extensions separate projects and separate contracts? I understand not wanting to finalize a contract for the Confederation Line before Stage 1 opens, but surely there's nothing preventing work on the T-line (or at least not the extensions that don't require shut-downs)

The province has been dragging its feet on sending the money for Phase 2. They may be separate projects but the funding is together.

[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).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Double tracking just needs to get past Hunt Club. A single track to the airport is sufficient. We are already double tracking much of the south end. At this point, single tracking anything but the airport spur doesn't make a whole lot of sense if we want a future proofed system.

Just remember that single tracking the airport spur will still allow airport trains to proceed to Bayview if double tracking is in place north of Hunt Club.

That would be fine. The airport doesn't need anything beyond a 15 minute frequency.

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

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.

As part of Stage 2, Trillium will be double tracked from Bayview to just north of Beech. I do hope that, at the very least, they widen the trench to allow double tracks all the way to the Dow's Lake tunnel. I also hope they build the Carling underpass in a way that allows to one day shift the station south in order to serve both sides of the street, which is extremely important to serve the future hospital.

While they're at it, they should build the entire right-of-way south of the tunnel to allow enough space for double track. Don't know how realistic that is with the under and over passes. Certainly, I understand that widening the tunnel and bridge at Carleton would be very expensive and require a shut-down. I do wonder how high a frequency we could achieve by double tracking the entire line except for those two crossings.

As mentioned a few times previously, Trillium's ridership will reach a point where shutting it down for further upgrades will no longer be feasible. This isn't the Transitway that can easily be shifted to parallel streets and highways during shutdown. They have to build Stage 2 in a way that eliminates the need for long term shutdowns. In 3 years, it will no longer be a student train used 8 months a year. It will be an all year commuter route. North the Dow's Lake tunnel, it will be used as an urban metro line.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That would be fine. The airport doesn't need anything beyond a 15 minute frequency.



As part of Stage 2, Trillium will be double tracked from Bayview to just north of Beech. I do hope that, at the very least, they widen the trench to allow double tracks all the way to the Dow's Lake tunnel. I also hope they build the Carling underpass in a way that allows to one day shift the station south in order to serve both sides of the street, which is extremely important to serve the future hospital.

While they're at it, they should build the entire right-of-way south of the tunnel to allow enough space for double track. Don't know how realistic that is with the under and over passes. Certainly, I understand that widening the tunnel and bridge at Carleton would be very expensive and require a shut-down. I do wonder how high a frequency we could achieve by double tracking the entire line except for those two crossings.

As mentioned a few times previously, Trillium's ridership will reach a point where shutting it down for further upgrades will no longer be feasible. This isn't the Transitway that can easily be shifted to parallel streets and highways during shutdown. They have to build Stage 2 in a way that eliminates the need for long term shutdowns. In 3 years, it will no longer be a student train used 8 months a year. It will be an all year commuter route. North the Dow's Lake tunnel, it will be used as an urban metro line.

They are still doing minimal upgrades on the existing section of track. It will help when they grade separate Ellwood Junction, but the extensions of double tracking are mostly just accommodating double length trains. Other than the one grade separation (which they will build only to single track standard), all the tough work remains.

The additional double tracking at Brookfield is minimal and that is all they can do without major bridge replacements. Likewise to double track at the proposed Gladstone Station will cover areas that are not that difficult to expand the right of way.

The difficult areas remain. They will not be doing the excavating south of Beech because bridges at Carling and Prince of Wales both need replacing to accommodate a widened trench. There is not much point in doing this when it provides no further significant value to the overall operation of the line.

Whenever the crunch comes, the shutdown will be more lengthy than we experience this time. We will need extensive work on the remaining parts to be double tracked.

If we leave sections single tracked, such as the tunnel, we will greatly reduce frequency gains and doom the airport spur to remain an inconvenient shuttle into the extended future.

Let's face it, we are building the airport spur simply to get the infrastructure built now with a friendly government in power. Its usefulness is limited until double tracking is built to the north, but at least it is place.

[waterloowarrior]

SNC-Lavalin city's top choice for $600M LRT expansion
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5019532?__twitter_impression=true

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

SNC-Lavalin city's top choice for $600M LRT expansion
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5019532?__twitter_impression=true

SNC-Lavalin city's top choice for $600M LRT expansion
Southern Trillium Line extension including airport link due to be completed by 2021

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Feb 15, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

SNC-Lavalin is the City of Ottawa's top choice to build the $600-million Trillium Line extension during the second phase of Ottawa's light rail project, CBC News has learned.

The Montreal-based company, currently embroiled in political controversy, is one of three pre-qualified bidders for the southern extension, which would add 16 kilometres and eight new stations, including a spur to the Ottawa International Airport, by 2021.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the issue, SNC-Lavalin has emerged from a competitive bidding process against two international consortia as the city's preferred proponent. A technical briefing on the awarding of the contract is expected at City Hall next week, and council must approve the choice at a meeting on Feb. 27.

The company is already a leading partner in Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which is constructing the east-west Confederation Line — a project that appears to be running at least a year late.

Under the rules for Stage 2 bidding, none of the major partners in RTG were allowed to bid for the Confederation Line extension, as they were thought to have an unfair advantage.

RTG players were allowed to bid for the north-south Trillium Line project, however. Only SNC-Lavalin did so, under the name TransitNEXT.

The company declined comment for this story.

The choice of SNC-Lavalin is sure to raise eyebrows.

The company is at the forefront of a political furor that involves, among other headline-grabbing elements, whether it would have to face criminal charges of fraud and corruption in connection with payments of almost $48 million to Libyan officials, and allegations it defrauded Libyan organizations of an estimated $130 million.

If found guilty, SNC-Lavalin could be blocked from bidding on federal government contracts for a decade. Instead, the company asked for the public prosecutor to enter into negotiations toward a remediation agreement. SNC-Lavalin has even filed for a judicial review of the public prosecutor's decision not to meet with the company.

As well, several former SNC-Lavalin executives have pleaded guilty in a corruption case involving the $1.3-billion contract to build Montreal's McGill University Health Centre.

And just this week, reports confirmed that the RCMP are investigating that high-level officials at SNC-Lavalin were aware of kickback payments made in relation to Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.

Asked earlier this week about the beleaguered company's involvement in the $2.1-billion Confederation Line project, and possible contention for the Trillium Line contract, Mayor Jim Watson said he had no concerns.

"We have had no difficulty, obviously, with them from an ethics point of view here in Ottawa," Watson said.

Watson said staff had assured him that SNC-Lavalin's potential involvement in LRT's next stage would put neither the city nor local taxpayers at risk.

Apart from ethical considerations, the choice of SNC-Lavalin for the Trillium Line project should prompt questions about the company's financial future.

Since it's been facing criminal prosecution, SNC-Lavalin share prices have plummeted. Its chief executive said late last year the simmering scandal has cost the company $5-billion worth of business.

Just this week, debt-rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded SNC-Lavalin, which has significantly slashed its own earnings projections twice recently.

With files from Elizabeth Thompson

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/snc-lavalin-ottawa-top-choice-for-lrt-expansion-1.5019532

[zzptichka]

Haha. I'm sure this will go over well.

[Ottawaresident]

Oh my oh dear, more corruption? I doubt Rideau acctually won the contract, seeing all those delays, but I am prejudiced.

[J.OT13]

Doesn't mean corruption. Just really bad optics. It's not the entire RTG group that one the Stage 2 Trillium contract, just SNC who placed a bid on their own. None of the other partners bothered.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Doesn't mean corruption. Just really bad optics. It's not the entire RTG group that one the Stage 2 Trillium contract, just SNC who placed a bid on their own. None of the other partners bothered.

I hate to say it, but every western company that operates in these areas pay bribes, it's impossible to operate there otherwise. Yet at the same time, we can't be seen as paying bribes, hence it being both illegal and mandatory. That's why these cases usually end up with deferred prosecution when they get caught. What the PMO's office (allegedly) did is actually par for the course, and let's not fool ourselves that a conservative government wouldn't do the exact same thing. The Trudeau government just seems to be spectacularly bad at "controlling the messaging", and all the other political sharks smell blood in the water.

None of this has to do with SNC's actual competence as an engineering firm, and it might work out in our favour, they might have extra incentive to really shine

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

I hate to say it, but every western company that operates in these areas pay bribes, it's impossible to operate there otherwise. Yet at the same time, we can't be seen as paying bribes, hence it being both illegal and mandatory. That's why these cases usually end up with deferred prosecution when they get caught. What the PMO's office (allegedly) did is actually par for the course, and let's not fool ourselves that a conservative government wouldn't do the exact same thing. The Trudeau government just seems to be spectacularly bad at "controlling the messaging", and all the other political sharks smell blood in the water.

None of this has to do with SNC's actual competence as an engineering firm, and it might work out in our favour, they might have extra incentive to really shine

Good Day.

Yup.... but it's not so much the overseas 'troubles' (Libya, Saudi-Arabia) as it is the Quebec/Montreal scandals (par for the course for Quebec/Montreal) McGill University Health Centre superhospital complex, and Jacques Cartier Bridge maintenance/renovation/repair. Those have more impact behind the scenes domestically, even though the overseas stuff is more 'visible' politically. Any way you cut it, they are 'on-the-hook' for any contracts here now.

EnJoy!

[PHrenetic]

Good Day. FYI:

The www.stage2lrt.ca website 'Resources' page has been re-organized and cleaned up a bit....
Looks like they are preparing it for the announcements and next round of plans and updates (I hope !).

Cross-posted.

[OCCheetos]

A first look at what the new FLIRT trains would look like? They look good. Probably the best paint scheme out of all the trains in my opinion.

https://twitter.com/meganshawCTV/status/1099033023029407747


Pedestrian walkways seems to be a big theme in all of these submissions.

[J.OT13]

$600 million budget for Trillium was for both the capital cost and maintenance? I thought that was just capital cost. Was the $2.6 billion just for capital also, or did it include the extended RTG contract and additional train sets?