Raise the Hammer

Well here in Ottawa, the original O-Train Line now the Trillium Line was a pretty basic affair. Not a LRV but mainline railway compliant, very light Diesel Multiple Unit. In fact in legal terms, the Trillium Line is actually a Commuter Rail line not a LRT line, at least as Transport Canada defines it. We do however operate it like a diesel LRT line not a Commuter Rail Line. If you count all the money we have put into it over the last 15 years and including the original construction costs, the total bill is just under $120 Million.

For that we have a 8km diesel LRT line that operates at a 10-12 minute frequency all day (5:30AM-Midnight), has a new (semi functional, don't get me started) signaling system, a single track line with 3 passing tracks.

As part of the phase 2 LRT system the line will be lengthened 7.5 km to a point south of our Airport to a new park and ride station at Bowesville (which will be the furthest eastern station of the Barrhaven-Riverside Transitway). 2 new stations will be added at Gladstone and Walkley (were the 2 new passing tracks are), a third station (Confederation Heights) will be moved from 100 metres north from its temporary location to a new one with better access. There is a possible airport shuttle line being examined, as long as the airport pays for it I guess. It became official that, as of last year 2015 this line had now spawned 1 Billion dollars in real estate development in the area of the stations since it opened in 2001, especially around the Carling and Preston Area (Carling Station), the southern limit of Ottawa's Little Italy neighborhood. It started carrying 5300 people a day in 2001 it is now carrying 13,000 a day. It spawned several kilometres of new very high quality bike/walking paths and a new pedestrian bridge that links new condo developments both immediately east and west of the line. Not a bad return on investment and even with all that success, we still get people saying it goes nowhere to nowhere and its a waste of money!