I like to compare Ottawa's LRT Phase 1 construction with a very very similar LRT construction that is happening in Nice, France. Why? A LOT of similarities: underground stations, Citadis Trains, same length, replaces an old BRT corridor and a major construction challenge complicating the whole project.
Let's take that deeper:
Ottawa Phase 1 :
Length: 12,5km
Cost: 2,1 Billion $
Cost per Kilometer: 168M$
Stations: 13 (4 underground)
Train type: Citadis Spirit (Never rolled before *World first*)
Construction Timeline: Construction Start (2013), Transitway conversion (April-2015) - End of construction (June 2019)
Delay: 1 year (mostly due to sinkhole)
Major construction challenge: Winter
Nice LRT Line 2:
Length: 11,3km
Cost : 1,13 Billion $ (750M€)
Cost per Kilometer: 106M$
Stations: 20 (4 underground)
Train Type: Citadis X05 (uses rechargeable batteries on surface section *World first*)
Construction timeline: Construction start (Late-2014), Bus corridor conversion (2015), Tunnel digging start (2016), Surface section opening for service (2017), Tunnel section (September-2019).
Delay: 1 Year (due to Archeological search in the underground section)
Major construction challenge: High Density (5000/km2), historic buildings around the line.
The purpose of this comparison is to see how two cities building almost the same type of system, handle completely differently their construction timeline...
- You can see that Nice has decided to open the surface section before the tunnel section (2017) ... meaning it only took them 2 years to convert the bus corridor into an LRT. It took us in Ottawa more then 3 years to do the same.
- Tunnel digging is taking them 3 years including station construction, it took us 5 to do the same.
- Nice is using a brand-new type of Citadis with a technology never tested before (Rechargeable batteries) trains are certified and are rolling since 2017. In Ottawa trains are being tested since 2016 and all of them aren't certified yet.
- No report of tunnel leaks in Nice, many in Ottawa.
- Overall construction is taking them 5 years, it's taking us 7.
- Nice is a MUCH denser city then Ottawa, meaning smaller operational space for construction... yet they are taking less time to build their LRT.
- Their system is 1,1 Billion cheaper, yet being in a much denser and older city...
I don't want to call Ottawa an amateur city but it's really taking the shape of it. It really bugs me... and if Nice didn't have their 1 year delay, they would've finished their LRT in 4 years. It's quite frustrating, and a shame for the national capital of a country like Canada to be anable to construct a 12km LRT system in a reasonable amount of time and wihout any construction issues...