OTTAWA — An extension to the problem-plagued O-Train light rail Confederation Line could be up to a year behind schedule, according to a memo sent to the Ottawa city council last week.
Meanwhile, the existing portion of the Confederation Line is preparing for two extended maintenance shutdowns this month.
The CBC reports the western extension to the Confederation Line is supposed to be completed 2025, but now could be 2026, rail construction program director Michael Morgan said in the memo. “The project is on the original timeline in the east for handover in May 2024 but there are significant schedule pressures in the western segment of up to a year.”
The east segment will add five new stations beyond the current eastern terminus at Blair, while the western segment includes 11 new stations beyond the current endpoint of Tunney’s Pasture, including four on a new branch line. Those two sections will more than triple the Confederation Line from its current length of 7.8 miles to 26.6 miles.
Another light-rail project, expanding the diesel-powered Trillium Line, is currently expected to be complete in summer 2023, a year behind its original date. Five miles of that line opened in 2001; it has been closed since May 2020 for an expansion adding eight stations and 9.9 miles of track.
More immediately, OC Transpo has announced two extended closures for maintenance work on the Confederation Line over a two-week period beginning Aug. 12. The full 13-station, 7.8-mile line close at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12 through Monday, Aug. 15. Trains will operate with some limitations between Aug. 16 and 19, with another full closure on the night Saturday, Aug. 20, followed by an extended closure from Sunday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. through Thursday, Aug. 25. More information is available at the OC Transpo website.
