Rideau Transit Group expects Ottawa light rail to be fully functioning by November 29

The City of Ottawa says “significant progress has been made” to prepare for the resumption of light rail service on the Confederation Line and Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has told the city that full service is expected by Monday, November 29.

City Manager Steve Kanellakos wrote in a memo to Ottawa's mayor and city councillors on Tuesday, October 26, since the city's Transit Commission was updated about a return-to-service plan last Wednesday, additional Rideau Transit Group (RTG) technicians have been deployed to inspect the trains and conduct necessary work to relaunch the system.

“The independent rail safety expert, Transportation Research Associates (TRA), is actively monitoring their progress,” said Kanellakos.

Partial service (seven trains plus one spare) is still on track to resume within the first two weeks of November.

Kanellakos said test trains will operate on portions of the system later this week. 

“These preliminary test trains will be used to verify correct operation of the trains and the infrastructure that was repaired,” explains the city manager.

The base service plan for Line 1 requires 15 trains for the morning peak period, 13 trains for afternoon peak period, and a range of vehicles at other times of the day. Kanellakos said RTG’s proposed timeline for the availability of 32 vehicles (15 trains plus one spare) is conditional on the acceptance of their work plan by TRA, timely execution of the inspection program, validation of the work completed on the vehicle fleet and acceptance by the city.

RTG is expected to continue to inspect the remainder of the fleet once service resumes. 

Because RTG's plan is subject to validation of its vehicle inspection program by TRA and the city, Kanellakos said staff members anticipate a true return to full service by mid-December.