Ottawa’s light rail transit delayed once again

Originally slated to be built in time to take residents and visitors to Canada 150 events, Ottawa's LRT system will now not be operational until 2019.

The announcement was made at Monday morning's City of Ottawa Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.

Listen to General Manager of Transportation at the City of Ottawa John Manconi on Ottawa Today with Mark Sutcliffe:

On September 7, the Rideau Transit Group said the deadline would need to be moved to November 30 but they would also need the city to 'carve' out some of the requirement put in place in their agreement. 

These concessions included a smaller fleet, only 32 of 34 trains would be ready in time as they are missing important computer components. 

The RTG also requested that the Rideau transit station only be partially opened, as more work is required, including construction and mechanical work. 

They also wanted to reduce the original 12 consecutive days of testing period required before opening the Confederation Line up for the public. 

The city examined these requests and following their own analysis, determined that this would be unacceptable and that the rail line would not be ready until some time in early 2019. 

Million dollar damage fee will be applied to RTG payment if handover doesn't happen by Nov 2

When Mayor Jim Watson was asked if he still believed that RTG was a trustworthy partner, he explained that, while the setback was disappointing, he felt confident they would get the job done. 

“I think when the system does open, there will be a sense of pride, but obviously today is a setback. We have faith in RTG and the partnership.” 

Watson said he's not happy that the project will be delayed by several months. 

“But at the end of the day, it's more important to me personally that we have a safe and secure system number one and secondly that the whole system is operational on day one and not parts of it,” he added. 

Watson and General Manager of Transportation John Manconi agreed that their number one priority is the transit user. 

To help deal with Monday's announcement, Manconi explained that they will be examining all the route changes made on Labour Day, that were to reflect the incoming light rail system, to see if they can get those routes back to their original state. 

“I understand their pain,” he said. “I understand what it takes to have a route change imposed on you if you're depending on that for your commute every day. We do it with sensitivity, we do it with values and principals that minimize the impact.” 

Manconi stated that he is looking forward to feedback, from the councillors and commuters. 

“Our commuters have gone through a lot in the last four years, a lot of detours,” he said. 

When it comes to the drivers that were recently given pink slips, Manconi added that he will be working with OC Tranpo's union to see if they can get the drivers on until the end of the year and possibly see them go month-to-month, as the final work is done on the Confederation Line.