It's time to talk about the O-Train again

I've avoided it long enough. Mostly, my neglect of the O-Train has more to do with the fact that I no longer commute to work. But with federal public servants mostly mandated to be in an office three days a week, there is a good reason to check back in with Ottawa's ongoing efforts to convert its public transit into a well-oiled rail network. 

So far, the results are understandably and predictably mixed. That's being charitable.

We all know that the Confederation Line, which will soon run from Orleans in the east to Crystal Beach in the west, has been a failure from the get-go. It was built poorly and opened too early with trains that were not suited to Ottawa's climate. And many, many details were overlooked. That is likely the shortest way to sum up years of light rail turmoil here. The scariest part is that successive city councils deliberated over the best way to establish a citywide rail network for many years and the process still produced very few positive results. All that time and we still got it wrong in many ways.

I have blogged about the O-Train and its failures many times in the past. In fact, I looked back to the last actual post I completed that was solely about the O-Train and it was in 2020. Since that last post, we have seen news about trains with improper trued axles, tracks that were not built correctly, trains that had to slow down on turns due to the track issues, frequent weather service disruptions and the list goes on. Let's skip ahead to something a bit more positive.

As people in Ottawa know, the north-south Trillium Line, which is now called Line 2, has been operational for a few months and it seems to be operating well, as the diesel trains are much better equipped to deal with Ottawa's temperamental winters. I took this shot in the evening, facing west, from the Bank Street bridge several weeks ago. Most know this as the Walkley diamond, although in truth, it's a half diamond. 

The longer Stadler FLIRT trains are roughly twice as long as the old diesels and they now ply a 19-kilometre route between Bayview Station, on the western edge of the LeBreton Flats, and Limebank Station, on the northern edge of the Riverside South subdivision. Much of this extension of Line 2 follows the right-of-way of the old CP Prescott Subdivison, some of which was still in place up until a few years ago. 

The route has additional stops including Corso Italia (Little Italy), South Keys, Leitrim and Bowesville. The original O-Train line, the old CP Ellwood Subdivision, was the main focus of city council's rail ambitions years ago, when local politicians wanted to build on the success of this line. The thought initially was to extend the north-south line, as the right-of-way was already in place. However, that made too much sense, so that plan was shelved for far too long in favour of an electric east-west line (Confederation Line or Line 1). The rest is a miserable local history.

One bright spot about the new Line 2. Some might recall that, in the original plans, local politicians insisted that a new maintenance facility was going to be built in Bowesville, which despite the name, is largely unoccupied land on the edge of airport lands. At the time, the owners of the Ottawa Central Railway questioned why the city didn't want to make use of existing capacity at Walkley Yard.

Luckily, saner heads prevailed. Looking at Walkley Yard now versus what it was years ago, you would be amazed. The shot below is from the Bank Street bridge in 2017.

 And here's what it looks like now, in 2025. Walkley Yard hasn't been this busy in decades.

The area just south of the Walkley diamond is South Keys station, where Line 2 has a junction with what is now known as Line 4, the spur to the Ottawa International Airport. This line is also being served by smaller diesel trains that only operate between the airport and South Keys.

This shot was taken near the EY Centre, a convention centre near the airport, which has a station stop for people going to a convention. The trains are small compared to what is used on Line 2. The issue that has been raised in a recent opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen is that the airport spur does not provide through service to the end of Line 2 at Bayview. Instead, those wishing to get downtown from the airport need to take the airport O-train to South Keys, then hop onto a Line 2 FLIRT train to Bayview, before transferring again onto an electric train on Line 1. 

This lack of through connections has been heavily criticized, as the process of linking a major source of passengers, in this case the airport, is not seamless. In reality, the Line 1, Line 2 and Line 4 trains all work independently of each other. Not a great option for someone unfamiliar with the city.

Comparisons have been made to the other major airport links in Canada, like Toronto's Union-Pearson Express and Vancouver's Sky Train. The consensus is that Ottawa's rail link falls well short of these other services, particularly since the airport O-Train station is not terribly visible unless you are in the departures level of the airport.

This shot, above, was taken when I was dropping someone off at the airport recently. As you can see, unless you are on the second level of the airport in the departures area, you might be hard-pressed to find the O-Train station. That is the criticism, anyway. I'm sure the station was well thought out and every effort will be made to ensure the station is well promoted within the airport. 

I have yet to ride on the new north-south Line 2, but I look forward to it, just to see the extension of the line into Riverside South. It was behind schedule and over budget, but at least Ottawa can say it has a light rail line that is reliably running. It's more than we can say for Line 1.

Summer Observations in Ottawa

Over the course of the summer in Ottawa, there have been a few railway developments worth noting. Happily, we won't have to dwell on the city's ill-fated Confederation Line light rail service terribly long. Those who live here know that this system continues to experience severe operational problems, relating to the fact that the trackage was found to be improperly installed. After another service stoppage, repairs to the rails to allow trains to properly negotiate curves and the discontinuation of many double-long trains have allowed the commuter line to return to operation in some form.

I digress. I could also mention the many delays that are pushing back the start of service on the newly expanded Trillium Line, which thankfully is powered by diesel light rail trains. That operation seems likely to be operational at some point toward the end of the year or early next year, depending on the update you believe from the city. There have been sporadic sightings of test runs in the past few months, as the builders are trying to finish partially completed stations all the way out to Riverside South.

Can we move on? Talking about the city's light rail system is such a drag.

The good news is that Via Rail Canada recently announced the restoration of more service to and from Toronto, which is the result of increased demand for rail transportation. Two more trains have been added, as of Sept. 1, which restores services to and from Toronto to roughly half of what was available to travellers before the pandemic. The restoration of service in Ottawa is part of a larger return to normal across the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. 

For local railfans here, I can't imagine two more Via Rail corridor trains will elicit much enthusiasm, but I suppose it can only hasten the imminent arrival of the new Siemens equipment, which continues to arrive from its U.S. manufacturer. More trains means more equipment needed, right?

I haven't done a lot of wandering about the city this summer, especially not trackside, although I have had a number of opportunities to catch Via Train 59 westbound on Wednesday evenings, as I am trackside at that time when my daughters are at a nearby dance class.

I noticed over the summer that an industrial spur that once served some small industry on Bentley Drive has been disconnected.

This is a shot taken in July from the Hunt Club Road overpass. Over the course of the summer, I haven't noticed much work being done beyond the initial removal of some of the rails at the switch point. I wasn't surprised to see this, as this spur has been covered over with weeds and brush for a long time. It doesn't look as though it's been used for years. And it doesn't seem as though CN has much interest in reaching out to small industry to maintain carload service along any of these spurs in west Ottawa. The slow rolling CN exit from Ottawa drags on, as the railway seems to be maintaining the remaining service to a few customers and that's it. 

If there were any interested parties looking to start a short line service here, they have yet to materialize and it doesn't look like there's much infrastructure left to work with, even if someone had the notion to get started here. Sad, but that's how a multibillion-dollar transcontinental railway operates. There is little room for small backwater operations that don't meet its margins.

I have not seen CN's Arnprior Turn returning to Walkley on the Wednesday evenings when I am near the Beachburg Sub near Merivale Road. Although, it's always cool to see the remnants of the old Northern Transcontinental line when wandering along the tracks.

Much of this old infrastructure has long since been removed from the Beachburg Sub. However, a few of the old searchlight signals remain, turned aside form the tracks, like this one, which was staring forlornly off at the adjacent soccer fields. 

Later this year, I'd like to share some of the many shots I have taken of Via Train 59, an evening departure from Ottawa Station that passes through Federal Junction around 6 p.m. each night. I have tried to get as many different creative shots as I can around this junction, which is almost completely hidden from view. 

Here's a shot I got below the Hunt Club Road overpass, near Gurdwara Drive. The shot proved to be tough as something would be blurry, and it wasn't going to be the train. I don't know if I will try this vantage point again, as it was extremely difficult to keep the train in focus with the camera I have. 

However, I was reasonably happy with this shot, as the F40 and the first class coach match each other with their wraps. Much of this train was wrapped, in fact, but it was not a complete matching set.

The fall hopefully will bring with it some more interesting shots and possibly more variety. I did manage to travel to Waterloo near the end of summer, but my time was completely booked up, which did not allow for any rail sightings. 

I still have a great deal of material to share from Stratford, the GTA and a few other unexpected places, thanks to the contributions of friends. For now, this is what passes for news from Ottawa.

Spring Observations in Ottawa

I'm happy to bring back a feature I used to have in this blog regularly, when I would round up a collection of newsworthy photos and talk about the goings-on in Ottawa. The challenge this type of posts poses is that sometimes, there just isn't enough to mention and then there's the added headache of actually getting out there to record what's happening. A few recent developments in my life at least allowed me to capture some interesting photos, so the observations post is back.

The first was a simple doctor's visit to Riverside South, an area of the city where the O-Train Trillium Line will soon end. Those who read this blog know that the extension of this line follows the former CP Prescott Subdivison right-of-way, some of which was still in place before the extension construction began. Like anything with the O-Train, it's not simple. The extension is behind schedule and is not expected to be ready anytime soon. But, before I went to my doctor's appointment, I took a couple of quick snaps of the O-Train Riverside South terminal, which looks to be nearing completion.

This is a shot taken from Limebank Road, which shows you the terminal as well as the rail bridge over the road. But, there was another interesting item in this area that made me think that work here is wrapping up or nearing its end.

I spotted this piece of maintenance-of-way equipment parked in the track right before the bridge over Limebank Road. Just a few days ago on the Eastern Ontario Rails Facebook page, someone posted a picture of a new diesel O-Train doing a test run on tracks in this area. You might recall from this post that I took a picture of this new O-Train parked in Walkley Yard last summer. 

Later in the week, I had to return to the doctor's office to retrieve a form, so I made sure to make my way through Barrhaven, past the Via Rail Fallowfield Station because I figured a free train sighting was worth the slightly longer drive. I was rewarded by the sight of this westbound corridor train making its way to Toronto in the rain.

This was about as common as it gets for Via these days, as an F40PH-2 lead a line of four LRC cars through the signals just west of Woodroffe Avenue. Since I was on my way home and caught something, I fugured this was a win. I don't know how much longer this scene will be common, as Via is about to undergo a radical change in look in the coming years, as its Siemens trainsets become more common and the older rolling stock is retired. 

Case in point: earlier this week, another new Siemens trainset was spotted crossing the border near Sarnia, Ont. as it made its way east to Montreal, presumably. Those shots were shared with me by a blog reader in Sarnia, but I chose not to add them in to this post, because I wasn't sure the shot was taken from public land. I don't want to encourage trespassing on railway property.

Back to Fallowfield Station for a second. I got a few other interesting shots when this westbound came in to the platform. I like this shot, simply for the lines on the parking lot tarmac. This is the eastern edge of the platform, closest to Woodroffe, where these lines are meant to keep cars from parking in a laneway that allows Via crews to access the platform. I've never seen it actually used, but I would imagine it's for snow clearing vehicles mainly.

As is my new custom at Fallowfield, I tried to get a scene of people boarding the train. I have mentioned this a fair bit recently, but this station really doesn't offer a lot of great photo opportunities from different vantage points, so one is often left to get creative. This was my attempt at something a little different.

To me, the real attraction of this image is the cloud bank over the station. You can see a few passengers waiting for the on-board crew to open the doors to the coaches. You can also see how narrow the platform is at the station, which really restricts your photography here, unless you retreat to the empty parts of the parking lot and shoot from a more generous angle. That is the approach I often take. I'm not a huge fan of these head-on shots, unless there's a good reason for it. In this case, there were enough elements to justify the shot.

This leads me to my last shot. How does that expression go? Be careful what you wish for? Well, for years, I've wanted to get a photograph of the Transitway trench that the Confederation Line O-Trains use. This trench is, of course, the old right-of-way of the CP Carleton Place Sub, which was used for years as a bus-only road, dubbed the Transitway. When the Confederation Line was built, the trains took over this right of way up to Tunney's Pasture. When the line extends to Corkstown Road in the west end, the entire length of this old trench, which ends at the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, will have rails once again.

So, why was I able to finally get this shot?

This week, I found myself in the unfortunate position of being on strike, as a member of the federal public service. As such, I was at Tunney's Pasture to take part in a picket, which has been my reality since Wednesday. The one upside was I was able to at least get a shot of some O-Trains plying their way to and from the downtown using this old trench. I like this shot because there's some interesting cloud cover and elements of the city in the background. The train itself is not really the focal point of the image. Many, many shades of grey! It's a metaphor for this entire strike situation. As much as I was pleased to get this shot, I hope I don't find myself in this part of this city for too long.

On the topic of the LRT, there has been a fair amount of chatter in the media this week about city commitments to implement most of the recommendations that came out of the provincial inquiry into the O-Train's many failures. Those with any idea of this system know it has many, many problems. I won't get into it here, but there is hope that possibly there is finally a political will to get this right. Although many aren't holding out much hope since the system was completely shut down by our recent ice storm, which stranded no fewer than five trains on the Confederation Line, leaving it to the Ottawa Fire Services to get people off these disabled trains. It begs the question why the system continued to operate when everything else in the city pretty much shut down.

There's also planned stoppages this weekend to deal with leaks in the downtown tunnel.

The problems seem endless. Such is the state of transit in Ottawa.

Ottawa's light rail disaster

I have been reluctant to share any thoughts about Ottawa’s new electrified Confederation Line light rail system on this blog. You don’t need to live in Ottawa to know that the launch of the east-west Confederation Line has been an unqualified disaster. There is no other way to describe this system. It was already well past its launch date when it began service in September. Admittedly, hopes were high when it did begin operations, but the problems began almost immediately.

Here is an unofficial summary of what Ottawa commuters have had to face since September.

1. City officials insisted that the trains had to operate flawlessly for 12 consecutive days before actual commuter operations were to begin. That did not happen, but city officials used all sorts of bafflegab and doublespeak to explain away this obvious failure to comply with its own guidelines.

2. The first major problem happened almost immediately when commuters tried to pry doors open when trying to catch a train. This is common in most transit systems. Most buses and subways have safety and redundancy systems that account for this behaviour. The O-Trains could not handle these situations and the doors would remain open after being pried open. The trains would then shut down. The door issue has been resolved through a change in commuter behaviour, but it’s not clear to me that the issue was ever fixed. The city insisted that technical adjustments were made.

3. Switches on the Confederation Line would often not operate normally, which would shut down part or all of the system. This happened multiple times before the issue was largely fixed. It should be noted that this problem has begun to resurface recently, due to winter conditions.

4. The city had told the public that 15 O-Trains would run during peak periods in order to maintain normal 3-minute intervals of service at all stations. The system has not yet had 15 trains working at one time. City officials have quickly changed their tune, saying the number of trains operating during peak periods is 13. No one has ever explained why this has changed.

5. There have been many cases where these trains have shut down for no apparent reason. If there were explanations for these mysterious failures, they were not well communicated with the public or not shared with the public at all.

6. Early on, a piece of the continuous welded rail broke apart, forcing the system to shut down while repairs were made to the (at the time) brand new right-of-way. The city insisted that this is a common occurrence in any rail system. Officials were then forced to admit that this “common occurrence” has never once happened on the Trillium Line since it first began operations in 2001.

7. A long piece of the overhead catenary was torn off its bracing by an O-Train for no apparent reason near Saint Laurent Station. The city never offered any explanation as to why this would happen.

8. Multiple O-Trains experienced power failures around the New Year. In this case, it was explained that the company that maintains the trains had to modify its maintenance practices because the pantographs that pick up the power were being compromised by a mixture of copper shavings from the overhead catenary mixed with rock salt.

9. In the New Year, the entire Confederation Line was severely compromised by a number of flat spots on the train’s wheelsets. The company maintaining the fleet explained eventually that its wheel truing machinery had broken down. The result was that only eight trains were available for use during peak hours for more than a week.

10. On New Year’s Eve, the city offered free rides on the O-Train for those going out for a night on the town. A mysterious failure on one of the trains caused a delay of more than an hour, due to the fact that there was obviously no back-up in place for train failures. Eventually, those stranded on the stopped train did get aboard a replacement bus, but the incident was the latest black eye for the beleaguered system.

11. It took weeks for the city to explain that a faulty sump pump was causing a lingering sewer smell in the underground Rideau Station. The problem has not been totally resolved yet.

12. There are now problems with a rotten egg smell at the underground Lyon Station, for reasons that have not yet been fully explained.

13. The city now says it will take more than a year to fix the electrical problems that are causing untold delays on the Confederation Line.

I mention all these instances as examples of some of the more egregious errors that have happened since this new service was launched. Some of the problems were to be expected with a new system. But the service interruptions have been an almost daily occurrence since December. It’s actually hard to think of a stretch of more than three to four days where the system has operated normally without any problems.

There are three more recent developments that have further eroded any trust the citizens of Ottawa have in our local leadership.

1. The company that is largely responsible for the current Confederation Line, SNC Lavalin, was handed the contract to extend the Trillium Line as part of the Phase II of the system’s expansion. This, despite the fact that the company had failed to meet the minimum technical threshold to advance in the bidding and was disqualified by the city’s own technical evaluation committee. That committee’s decision was overturned by senior city officials, due to a secret power they held to make such an arbitrary decision. It has since been revealed that SNC failed to grasp in its bid that the Trillium Line is not an electrified line, but rather a diesel line. The company’s bid also did not include provisions for snow removal. Yet, they won the bid. The city council has ordered an independent review of this contract process.

2. City officials have only recently come forward publicly with the revelation that the trains they purchased from Alstom, are not terribly reliable in a North American winter. These trains are a specifically modified version of another Alstom train that is used worldwide. However, the fact remains that the trains used here are the canaries in the coal mine, so to speak. They are the first to be used anywhere. And, as one city official admitted, they are so far proving to be lemons.

3. Ottawa residents were told that the company that is maintaining the Confederation Line and electric O-Trains has not been paid yet, due to the poor performance of the service since September. Only, that was another lie or half truth from city officials. It was actually revealed that the city, in fact, paid the company, which is called Rideau Transit Maintenance or RTM, $4.5 million.

I won’t offer my opinion, other than a few words. Everything that I have mentioned here is what has been reported. As a taxpayer and commuter, I can only hope that things will get better. I have lost trust in this city’s senior managers and the mayor. This will affect my vote in the next election. But, here’s the obvious truth. This is what happens when you don’t understand railways and have not had to live in a city with overly visible railways for the better part of half a century.

Ten thoughts about the Confederation Line launch

I reluctantly took my first few trips aboard the new O-Trains on the city’s much-ballyhooed Confederation Line recently. To my surprise, I found the new system quite nice, with many small details well executed. There’s no doubt that people in the city are impressed with the new system. I think much of the excitement is centred around the fact that the line acts as a quasi subway through the downtown core, as it travels beneath the main parts of the core between the edge of the LeBreton Flats to the west and the University of Ottawa to the east.

Without getting into the politics behind the new line or the operational and bureaucratic miscues that have led us to this point, I thought I’d share a few observations on the trains themselves and the on-board experience.

1. My first impression of the train was that the ride was quite smooth and the trains remarkably spacious, considering how many people are hopping aboard at the end points of the line, which for me is Tunney’s Pasture. However, it is important to note that the old rapid bus transit system is still operating normally until Oct. 6, so these trains aren’t yet at full capacity just yet.

2. From a purely aesthetic point of view, I find these trains fairly ugly, especially the operator’s area at either end. I’ve seen other light rail sets in other citys that do not look like an insect’s head. Our trains look as though they have grotesque bug eyes on either end. I know they are probably designed this way to maximize safety and the sightlines for the train’s operators, but still. This is the light rail version of the P42. A small complaint.

3. The downtown underground stations are impressively laid out and quite functional. They are clean, although a bit sterile for my tastes. Most of the stations along the Confederation Line have a fair bit of artwork in them, but I found the actual platform areas at Rideau and Lyon Station to be a bit bland. Once you get into the areas with the stairs and pedestrian ramps that lead you away from the platforms, you begin to see more of the artistic flourishes. I suppose the platforms are no better worse than the subway station stops I can recall from my time taking transit in Montreal or Toronto.

4. The four-storey escalator that takes you from the deep underground Rideau Station to ground level is disorienting. It’s encased in a long, drab concrete tube. Unfortunately, there was no thought put into designing anything along the tube that is positioned at level. That means when you ride the escalator, you have a hard time judging whether you are standing at level. Think of the Crazy Kitchen at the Canada Science and Technology Museum and you will begin to understand. I have issues with vertigo and equilibrium and found the escalator a bit unsettling.

5. Pity the poor Trillium Line, the city’s first true light rail system. With all the hype and hoopla surrounding the launch of the Confederation Line, it’s somehow getting lost in the shuffle that this city has had a light rail system for more than a decade. The media coverage suggesting otherwise is just lazy.

6. The sound of the Citadis Spirit trainsets on the Confederation Line is more of a whirring rather than the sounds you typically associate with railways. I’ve been on subways in Toronto and Montreal and have to say that these LRT trainsets here sound much differently. There are no clanking sounds, just a high-pitched whirring.

7. The downtown rail tunnel is much louder than I thought it would be. As the trains makes their way through the core, the echoes of the train through the tunnel are quite noticeable inside the train cars. This is not a complaint. Just an observation.


8. The Tremblay Station that is right near the Via Rail central station has to be one of the more lightly used stations on the line. I am not an east-end commuter, so I can’t say this definitively. I took the train during off-peak hours but was still quite surprised at how empty this station was.

9. It’s interesting how the city links together two trainsets for the morning rush. The trains arrive every 3-5 minutes and are always in this configuration where two cabs are linked up together in the middle. I suppose this gives the operations people flexibility when they have reduced demand on the weekend and don’t need to use this two-trainset consist.

10. The new system has proven to get me to my workplace a few minutes quicker each morning, which was a pleasant surprise. Still, I’m not exactly thrilled that I have to make two connections just to get to work.

I guess I will reserve final judgment until this line operates in the winter. But, so far, so good.

We'll see.

Spring observations in Ottawa

As the city’s Confederation Line light rail system lumbers toward completion, there remains a flurry of activity at a number of points along the line. I recently took a stroll along the tracks just west of the downtown, to see what was happening.

The first site I saw was the exposed western tunnel entrance. This is the first time I saw the tunnel entrance, which has been covered until very recently. Over the course of the early spring, the final tie clips were fastened into place, thus completing the Confederation Line from Blair Station in the east with Tunney’s Pasture Station in the west.

At Bayview Station, where the Confederation Line crosses over the existing Trillium Line, workers were busy with a number of tasks, including extending the Trillium Line beneath the Confederation Line flyover. This is an interesting job, since Bayview Station remains at the centre of a dispute between the City of Ottawa and the group calling itself the Moose Consortium.

As you have read here before, Moose has been battling the city over use of the Prince of Wales Bridge, which once connected the old Canadian Pacific Ellwood Subdivision with the CP trackage in Quebec, including the Maniwaki and Lachute Subs. The Trillium Line has been disconnected from the bridge for several years, as you saw in this photo I took in 2013.

More recently, when work began on Bayview Station, a portion of the trackage leading the the bridge was covered over by consruction. Moose, which has goals of establishing some sort of regional commuter rail service in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, challenged the city before federal authorities. Moose has long argued that the city cannot simply sever this trackage from the O-Train line without proceeding with discontinuance of service paperwork with the Canadian Transportation Agency. The city has argued that has long-term plans for the old rail bridge.

Whatever the outcome, the city cannot deny that, even recently, it had money set aside to convert the bridge into a recreational pathway. The city also cannot claim that has done much to maintain the bridge. The CTA recently sided with Moose, meaning it agreed with the group’s position that the city cannot sever the rail line over the Ottawa River from its Trillium Line without going through a discontuance process. The city is appealing that decision. At the very least, it appears that the tracks laid beneath the Confederation Line could very easily link back up with the trackage leading the bridge. I doubt that was the reason why the tracks were laid there, but it at least raises the possibility that the city might finally get serious about using the bridge for commuter rail.

Speaking of the Prince of Wales Bridge, the rusting old relic found itself as the centre of attention briefly during the early days of the Ontario provincial election. A group of local Liberals made an announcement that they would support any efforts to extend the city’s light rail system over the bridge. This announcement made me roll my eyes for several reasons. First, it seems strange to me pledge support for an extension of this system over the river at a time when this potential part of the light rail system is not an immediate priority. I also laugh whenever the city begins the trumpet the fact that the province is chipping in on the light rail system, as if the money is coming from some other taxpayer. Message to politicians: the city taxpayer, the provincial taxpayer and the federal taxpayer are all the same people.

For those who are following the progress of the Confederation Line, you may have noticed that a complete trainset has been sitting on the tracks near Tunney’s Pasture Station for weeks. The trainset is being guarded around the clock, even though the tracks at this point are in a deep cut. I suspect that those living near this end of the line will soon be seeing test runs. Most of the testing that has happened so far is happening near Belfast Yard on the east end of the line.

I did manage to take some time to get a few shots of the Trillium Line recently, including this meet between two diesel powered trainsets near Somerset Street. As anyone who takes the bus in Ottawa knows, the Trillium Line has been numbered “Line 2” while the Confederation has been numbered “Line 1.” I find this a bit odd, since the city went to great trouble to rebrand the original O-Train line as the Trillium Line. Now, if you are on a city bus nearing Bayview Station, you will hear the automated public address system announce “Bayview Station, O-Train Line 2.” I wonder if this will confuse anyone who have come to know the original O-Train line as the Trillium Line.

Oh well, at least all this activity has given us something to talk about.

As the flanged wheel turns

Was there ever a doubt that Ottawa's new light rail line would not open as scheduled? I for one, am not surprised. The media has been speculating about delays to the Confederation Line for a number of months. Despite assurances that the infamous sinkhole incident on Rideau Street would not delay the project, it appears that the giant hole and several other factors doomed the original completion date, which was supposed to happen in April.

That means that, for now, the new Alstom Citadis Spirit trainsets will mostly sit under the roof of this facility on Belfast Road, near the Via Rail station. I snapped this shot a few weeks ago.

The delay has raised a few important questions regarding who will be left on the hook for the costs associated with the delay. When the delay was first announced by our mayor, several indignant city counsellors stressed that the city had language in its contract with the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) that would allow the city to charge the group $1 million for missing its deadline. That suggestion was shot down by the mayor. A few days after that discussion, the city revealed that the delay to the Confederation Line opening will cost as much as $10 million a month, including the additional salaries that will have to be paid for bus drivers since the current bus transit system will have to continue operating. Many drivers will be laid off once the Confederation Line displaces countless express bus routes between the Confederation Line's endpoints, Tunney's Pasture and Blair. Nothing definite has been disclosed, but the RTG has been told it will be covering the costs in the coming months since the city signed a fixed-price contract for the entire system's construction.

Here's a shot of Tremblay Station, near the Via Rail station. The east end of this line is much further along in its development compared to the west end of the line, including Pimisi, Bayview and Tunney's Pasture stations.

Here's another shot, which gives you a glimpse of the right-of-way, which uses the old bus Transitway that once served the Via Rail station.

For now, the only action you will see on the Confederation Line is maintenance-of-way equipment, mostly in the form of hi-rail trucks and some pretty odd looking maintenance cars. This shot below shows you the types of grades that you don't see with heavy rail operations but are common with light rail operations.

I'm not a huge fan of railfanning light rail vehicles, but for those so inclined, this is about all you will see in Ottawa for the next few months. The Trillium Line continues to operate in the shadow of the Confederation Line.

A few final notes. A University of Ottawa professor has made the obvious suggestion (at least to me) that the city should look into using the Confederation Line for freight purposes as well. This system works in other cities, when freight trains make use of commuter rail line during off-peak hours. Ottawa is a city that is absolutely choked with trucks. You'd think politicians would embrace freight railways as a way of taking trucks off the highway and especially out of the downtown. Of course, those who read this blog know I've been advocating this all along, but I wonder how effective any freight operation would be with such dramatic grades on the Confederation Line.

Also, the city revealed the names of all the O-Trains, including those operating on the Trillium Line (Ellwood Sub). The city opened up the naming contest to students and received nearly 2000 submissions. The winning submissions were initially well received, although I did read today that some people aren't happy about the lack of diversity in the names. I would link to the story, but I really don't think it's a worthwhile read. I had a hard time getting through it without rolling my eyes.

Everyone's a critic and no one is ever happy. Pretty typical for Ottawa.

Confederation Line is nearing completion

I won’t say I’ve come around to the city’s vision of the O-Train, but I have to say I understand some of the elements of Phase I better, having seen another city’s light rail system. Recently, my family visited Kitchener-Waterloo. As my wife attended a professional conference, I was able to spend some time in the city, where I lived for a few years.

My first impression of that region’s light rail system was that the north-south line was very much incorporated into the Kitchener and Waterloo city streets. I’ve long thought that we could avoid the costly construction of a downtown tunnel here in Ottawa by planning a smart rail corridor on Slater and Albert streets, two major one-way streets that bisect downtown Ottawa from east to west. These streets are cluttered with buses every day. It made sense to me that you could replace those buses with a surface rail line and still be able to retain a thoroughfare for vehicles. Of course, that vision died with former Mayor Larry O’Brien, who began to champion the idea of a tunnel.

When I saw the KW tracks running up and down King Street in parts of Kitchener and Waterloo, my first impression was that the region there is heading for massive traffic headaches. In some spots, these light rail tracks make sharp right turns and dominate busy intersections. In other places, drivers will be forced to make right turns off King Street by crossing the tracks, which are tucked away to the right of the street and separated by a small curb. I can foresee trouble with this system, based on my fleeting assessment. It looks much more like a streetcar line than a light rail line.

A friend of mine told me that the region has had troubles in recent months with delayed delivery of the Bombardier trainsets. So far, only a handful of trains have been delivered and have been tested on the new KW light rail system.

Ottawa, by comparison, looks to be in good shape. The fleet of Alstom light rail trains has largely been delivered and is being tested and readied for next year’s launch of commuter service, whenever that actually happens.

Recently, I was able to have a look at the progress of the Confederation Line on its west end. Most of my looks at the new system have been in the east end, particularly around the Via Rail station on Tremblay Road. The eastern half of the system is much further along in its development than the west end, but that is changing.

July view of the Confederation Line tracks near Belfast Road, near the Via Rail station

Catenary is going up on the LeBreton Flats. Rails have been laid in recent months. The Pimisi, Bayview and Tunney’s Pasture stations are all starting to take shape, including the roofs, stairs, walkways, platforms and other structural features. I know the Lyon and Parliament stations are also taking shape nicely, although that progress is not being seen, since both stations are underground.

I was walking in the area when I caught site of some maintenance of way equipment near Pimisi Station. It’s a good sign that testing might not be far off.

The poles are up, the MoW equipment is on the line and progress is being made. Those buildings you see in the distance are Tunney's Pasture, where the Confederation line will end next year.

Meanwhile, the Trillium Line continues to operate, as per usual, in the shadow of the Confederation Line hype. I was on the Trillium Line not too long ago and took this shot from the Carling station platform.

The city rolled out its Get Ready for Rail ad campaign in recent months to educate riders about how the new transit system is going to work. In many respects, the transit system we have now is a point to point system, but it will change to more of a hub and spoke system when the Confederation Line is operational.

The city has even asked residents to submit their ideas for train names, as each train will be named. I was told that “Trainy McTrainface” will not be accepted, but the appeal was made to children in particular, so who knows what direction that naming will take? I wonder if Thomas will make the cut.

As you get closer to the western terminus of the Confederation Line at Tunney’s Pasture, you can see the first signs of the catenary poles going up, as most of them have been erected. I am hoping in the coming months that I might be able to catch some images of testing happening on the LeBreton Flats section of the line.

Speaking of that end of the line, you can see the recently erected fencing that is preventing people from using the Prince of Wales Bridge as a makeshift pedestrian crossing. There were some fairly significant protests when the city finally came around to the fact that the bridge will be used for light rail, but those efforts did not go far. Common sense prevailed instead.

To be honest, I'm surprised it took the city this long to fence off this bridge, given the potential safety issues of people using it as a makeshift pedestrian bridge.

I would imagine that longtime residents of the city must be smiling to see the sight of train tracks back on the Lebreton Flats, after nearly 50 years absent. This section of the city has been dormant for so long and is now set to reclaim some of its rail heritage, which will in turn bring so much more life back to this longtime wasteland west of downtown. When you think of the new Senators arena, the new main branch of the public library and other projects taking shape in this area, you begin to understand how the ridership for the O-Train will develop.

The Prince of Wales Bridge: Oh, no, not again

Just when you thought it was safe to put this piece of Ottawa's rail past and future on the back burner, the Prince of Wales Bridge has once again made headlines. The bridge, which has not seen action in many years, has long been neglected by its current owner, the City of Ottawa. After years of rejecting calls to preserve the bridge for use as an interprovincial light rail link, the city has finally come around to the idea of using the bridge for commuter trains in the future. So, all is well right? Well, not so, apparently.

As many locals know, the Prince of Wales Bridge was once a key piece of the Canadian Pacific Railway's rail network in Ottawa. It once played a key role in connecting the CP Ellwood, Prescott, Lachute and Maniwaki Subdivisions in the National Capital Region. In the final days of the Canadian Pacific's presence in the region in the late 1990s, the bridge was lightly used although it did connect CP to its last remaining customers on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. After CP left Ottawa, the bridge was purchased by the city as part of the deal it struck to buy the Ellwood Subdivision, which is now the O-Train Trillium Line.

In recent months, the city has been busy putting the final touches on the O-Train Confederation Line. The new electrified light rail line crosses over the old  Ellwood Subdivision. The contractor building the line is in the midst of constructing the new Bayview O-Train station, which will allow commuters to transfer from the electrified Confederation Line with the diesel-powered Trillium Line (there will be no rail connection like a diamond due to interoperability issues between the two O-Train systems).

The problem that the city has now is that the old rail line that leads to the bridge was removed, which is a no-no under federal laws. This is the position of the Moose Consortium, a organization that has plans to establish a private regional commuter service on the existing rail lines in the capital region. Now the city is in big trouble, it seems, with the Canadian Transportation Agency, which is the body that grants permission for rail lines to be removed. Making matters worse for the city, it appears that it okayed permanent structures to be built atop the old rail line. Now the city has until the end of the month to explain to the federal agency why it has removed rail without following the proper procedures, according to local coverage.

In my former life as a journalist, I spoke to the man behind the Moose Consortium Joseph Potvin and he told me flat out he was going to make sure that the city lived up to its obligations as the owner of the rail line and the Prince of Wales Bridge. He told me more than once that he would do everything he could to make sure that the infrastructure at Bayview was kept in some sort of operational condition. He says fixing this mistake will cost the city $20 million.

Here's what I am wondering. If the city is serious about using this bridge for rail, which finally appears to be the case, why is the city building over this line? If what Moose is saying to true, why would there not be a plan in place to preserve this rail?

Here's the biggest question in my mind: Am I the only one who noticed when the Trillium Line was rebuilt that the Trillium Line's connection to the old trackage to the bridge was disconnected and buried? It's been several years since this part of the rail line was removed, but nothing was said then. While I appreciate that the removal of the 250 or so metres near the new Bayview Station is much more noticeable, I wonder why nothing was said about the original disconnection of the Prince of Wales trackage years ago.

I can only shake my head as a railfan and as a taxpayer that this situation is resolved properly.

Common sense prevails as LRT moves forward

It's always a good news/bad news situation when it comes to Ottawa's light rail plans. The city recently unveiled its latest update for the second phase of its light rail expansion. The bad news is the $3-billion price tag for the second phase now stands at $3.6 billion dollars, thanks to previously undisclosed infrastructure projects that will be part of the second phase.

Here's the best news, in my opinion. The first project to be complete under Phase II will be the southern extension of the Ellwood Sub (known publicly as the Trillium Line) to Bowesville Road in the city's south end. This means the communities of Riverside South, Findlay Creek and Leitrim will have a much faster route to downtown Ottawa when this phase is done in 2021. Remember that there is an existing right-of-way (the old CP Prescott Sub) in place. Included in this project will be a spur line to the Ottawa International Airport and a 3,500 spot park and ride at Bowesville where people can park and hop on the train. All in all, this is good news for the growing south end and great news for those frustrated with the congested Airport Parkway. This should have been a priority long ago, but better late than never.

Diesel O-Train C4 at Bayview Station earlier this month

So, the bad news? The Trillium Line will be shut down for a year and a half as the extension of this line is underway. Considering the city didn't seem at all interested in this common sense project until recently, I would gladly sacrifice this line for a year if it meant that it was extended to where it should be by 2021.

O-Train heads south near Young Street on Feb. 20

The next part of the second phase to be completed will be an extension of the eastern half of the Confederation Line from Blair Station to Trim Road, instead of Place d'Orleans. I'm glad that the city is moving quickly to further extend the train to Trim, since this is where it needs to be in the east end, and as soon as possible. This project will be finished in 2022 and will include a widening of the city's Highway 174 to accommodate light rail through the centre median. This will be a painful process for east end commuters, but having railways running in the centre median is smart and saves money, as there will be no costly land expropriations, neighbourhood fights and other hassles that go along with building rail lines through urban communities.

Two O-Trains meet near Somerset Street on Feb. 20

The good news for the western Confederation Line extension is that the western leg of the line will be extended from Tunney's Pasture to Moodie Drive by 2023, which will bring the train closer to Kanata much earlier than previously planned. The original plan was to have trains in Kanata by 2031. The extension to Moodie Drive is good news for Bells Corners and to Department of National Defence workers, who are in the process of moving into the old Nortel Networks Campus on Moodie. The original second phase plans called for the end of the line to be at the Bayshore Shopping Centre.

Still, I'm sure a few west end residents are wondering why they are the last ones to get light rail extended to their neighbourhoods as part of this plan.

I'm also still curious, given the city's change of heart on the southern extension and its plans to extend light rail over the Prince of Wales Bridge eventually, why nothing has been done to investigate light rail over the existing Beachburg Sub/Renfrew Spur in the west end. These lines are lightly used, to say the very least, and seem to be ripe for further use. And they just happen to cut through Kanata, which desperately needs better transit options.

Construction is proceeding at Bayview Station as O-Train C4 pulls into the station on Feb. 20

In total, 36 kilometres and 22 stations will be added, including the recently announced Moodie station.

In a related commuter transit vein, the city is now putting its old Bombardier Talent trainsets up for sale. At one point, the city was considering using them in some fashion, but those plans were never seriously considered. The Talent trainsets were the original train consists used for light rail in Ottawa until they were replaced by Alstom Coradia LINT units. I'll miss the old O-Trains. Happy Trails!

I won't get into the details of why the expanded service on the Trillium Line has not reached the frequency of a train every eight minutes at every station, as was promised. Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson did mention this week that he was disappointed that the newly expanded service as not delivered as promised.

Winter observations in Ottawa: New mileage!

I found my way to the east end of the city this weekend, which gave me a chance to look at the progress being made on the O-Train Confederation Line and the renovations to Via Rail's Ottawa Station.

The most interesting site was at Belfast Yard. I don't know when railfans in Ottawa can claim to have seen new rails put it place in this city, other than the odd siding or such installed by Via Rail recently. What you're seeing below is a small section of the Confederation rail line as it enters Belfast Yard, the site where the new electric Alstom Citadis Spirit trains are being assembled and tested. If you look closely, you can see the catenary over the rails and the signals.

Those who are following the progress of this phase of the LRT project know that the city held a press conference recently around Cyrville Road, where they showed off an assembled trainset that was being tested on the tracks.

Here's another shot, below.

Both shots were taken from the Belfast Road overpass, facing east. Unfortunately, since the west sidewalk is the only vantage point that is walkable at this time of year, I was unable to get a shot from the east side, which would have minimized the impact of the fencing that was hindering my shots.

You may recall that I got a peripheral shot of the construction of this facility a few years back when I was shooting an incoming corridor train at Ottawa Station. The shot below gives you an idea of where Belfast Yard is relative to the station. Those cranes were assembling the Belfast facilities at the time. In some respects, the LRT yard is a next door neighbor to Via. The shot below shows a westbound train from Montreal coming in to the station in January 2015.

As you walk over the Belfact overpass, you can see where the Confederation Line dips below both the overpass and the Alexandria Sub trackage leading into the Via station. It's hard to photograph where the lines cross over, since no sidewalk access on the east side of the overpass prevents a good shot, so that will be for another day.

By all accounts, the O-Train project is progressing smoothly. This past year saw a few delays, one of which was caused by a massive sinkhole on Rideau Street in the downtown in late June, which flooded the O-Train tunnel and trapped a few workers for a short time. The sinkhole was fixed quickly, but the questions over how this hole formed are likely not going to be answered for some time. The last report I saw suggested that the tunnel was not a major factor.

The new line is slated to open next year. While the existing O-Train Trillium Line continues to operate normally with diesel Alstom Coradia LINT sets, the new Confederation Line construction is already having an impact. When the Confederation Line opens, the O-Train's existing Confederation Station, seen below, will likely have to be renamed to avoid confusion. This station , seen below, is named after the Confederation Park business park it serves, which includes a number of federal government buildings and Canada Post.

The debate over what to call the bus/train commuter stop at the Via Rail station was settled remarkably quickly, which surprised me. The stop, which went by the name Train, will now be called Tremblay Station, since the Via Rail station is on Tremblay Road.

Speaking of the Via Rail Station, I did manage to snap a few shots  of the action Saturday morning through the fog. The tracks were pretty full, judging by this shot I took from the Belfast overpass.

The fog really didn't help my cause from this vantage point. The wires are still a pain, too! But if you look, you'll two trains the south track (left) and two more on the right side of the picture. There is one on the centre track, hiding beneath the canopy. That's five trains at the station at once. That P42 is just about to leave for Montreal.

A little later, I drove down Belfast Road and was able to get up to the fence by the tracks to get this shot of two generations of Via diesels. The new diesel, P42 904, has the old blue and yellow paint while the older unit, F40 6446, has the new scheme. Those paying attention would notice that 6446 was the same train in the shot I shared above from January 2015. I was lucky that a huge snowbank allowed me to get a little elevation and get a shot over the chain link fence.

Just about a minute after I got the family shot, 6446 was on its way to Toronto, as seen below.

I didn't notice a whole lot of work being done on the platforms (read about the station renovations here), but there were some construction vehicles and some boarded off sections of the platform, which at least suggests that work has started in some spots to raise these platforms and enclose them from the elements.

I just hope the renovations don't ruin the vantage points from local rail enthusiasts.