O-Train Line 2, 4 expanding to six-day service next week

After a mostly successful two weeks without any major issues, the O-Train will continue to the next phase of its opening next week.

Starting on Jan. 25, people will be able to take the trains on lines 2 and 4 as normal on the services’ first Saturday since launching. It will run from 6:30 a.m. until midnight.

In a memo to council, Renée Amilcar, general manager of transit services department, said the system has been functioning as planned with only minor delays. One of those delays was a Line 4 train had a technical issue and a “brief system hold” was in place on Jan. 13.

“OC Transpo and TransitNext responded efficiently and restored service on one track, until the impacted train was replaced and full service resumed,” Amilcar said of the incident.

These issues, although annoying for commuters, have given the teams lessons to learn from, she said.

Over the next two weeks, OC Transpo will continue to operate the O-Train six days a week while buses parallel to the lines continue to run.

“While these remain early days, the operational performance and customer interest in trying the new Lines 2 and 4 continue to be encouraging,” Amilcar said.

The first day the system was running (Jan. 6) almost 21,000 trips were made on Line 2. Over the week (until Jan. 9), customers made 68,100 trips, according to data shared by staff. On Line 4, there was an average of 400 customer trips to and from the airport each day.