Confederation Line light rail service could return on Friday
The City of Ottawa is feeling confident that light rail service will return for transit users, at least in partial capacity, by the end of the week.
A memo to the mayor and city councillors on Tuesday, November 9, explains system testing is progressing well. City Manager Steve Kanellakos says, pending successful completion of testing on Wednesday, Confederation Line service would resume with seven trains and one spare on Friday.
Beyond that date, he adds, service would expand incrementally, with full service expected by December 1.
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Transportation Resource Associates (TRA) will need to validate the testing process and give the green light before the city can say for sure that service will be back up and running on Friday. Kanellakos expects to provide confirmation about the restart on Wednesday.
Line 1 end-to-end service testing began on November 4.
“Once the system resumes regular service, the city and TRA will continue to monitor Rideau Transit Group’s (RTG) activities,” said Kanellakos. “As with any Light Rail Transit system, we expect that issues will arise. The City and our transit customers expect these issues will be addressed quickly and efficiently by RTG.”
When partial rail service resumes, R1 replacement bus service will be maintained. The city manager said staff will be assessing, based on actual ridership levels, whether R1 replacement bus service can be reduced. OC Transpo will provide further updates on R1 bus service next week.
Ottawa residents have been without light rail service since a derailment on September 19.
