How Ottawa LRT service has changed in 5 years

Saturday marks five years since the launch of the Confederation Line LRT in Ottawa.

The much-anticipated transit system was launched with fanfare and events on Sept. 14, 2019, but within weeks, issues with the system began cropping up, causing delays for riders and negatively affecting confidence in the city's transit system.

Numerous adaptations and changes have been made to service and to the trains and the tracks themselves in the years since the line launched in order to improve safety and reliability.

On this fifth anniversary of LRT, CTVNewsOttawa.ca compares the system we were promised to the system we have.

Frequency of service

When the LRT launched, OC Transpo said trains would be coming every five minutes or less during peak periods, though the anticipated service times during peak hours was to be every three minutes and 20 seconds.

Initially, 15 double-car trains were supposed to run during peak hours, but before the line officially launched, that number was reduced to 13. OC Transpo did have some days with three-minute service in 2020 when 15 trains were launched.

Service frequency was described as every eight minutes from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. on weekdays, followed by every five minutes or less during peak hours, every five minutes during off-peak hours on weekdays, and every eight to 15 minutes after 11 p.m.

On weekends, trains were scheduled every five minutes from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with service every eight to 10 minutes after 7 p.m.

As of Aug. 26, 2024, some of those frequencies have been cut.

Today, peak period trains arrive every five minutes on weekdays. Off-peak trains arrive every 10 minutes. The early morning and late night headways remain unchanged.

On weekends, trains come every nine minutes all day on Saturdays and every nine to 10 minutes all day on Sundays.

Speed

A passenger was supposed to be able to travel from Tunney's Pasture Station to Blair Station or vice-versa in less than 25 minutes.

Speed reductions, however, have been implemented around several sharp curves in the line since the discovery of issues with the wheel hub assembly on the trains. OC Transpo now says an end-to-end trip will take approximately 30 minutes, subject to conditions, such as hot weather.

According to a document prepared for the Transit Commission, trains were intended to run between five and 10 kilometres per hour faster around many of the curves near Lees, Hurdman and Tremblay stations. The designed speed limits were between 35 and 45 km/h, but trains now travel as slow as 25 km/h around some curves. There are only two curves around Tremblay Station where the 45 km/h speed limit remains the same.

Capacity

OC Transpo initially promised that the system would accommodate up to 10,700 passengers per hour, each way.

Each car can carry up to 300 people, with capacity in a double-car train at 600 passengers.

A memo sent in early August estimated the line would serve about 4,400 customer trips per hour in each direction during peak periods and up to 3,600 passengers an hour during non-peak periods.

Stage 2

Construction of the eastern and western extensions of the Confederation Line are years behind the schedule that was promised.

In 2017, the city was told the eastern extension to Trim Road would be completed by 2022, while the western extension would be completed by 2023; however, staff later said that was an "aggressive" target and pledged in 2019 to have the work completed by 2025, with an added $1 billion tacked on to the original price tag of $3.6 billion.

Today, OC Transpo expects the east extension to open some time after May 2025. The western line is slated to start accepting passengers in 2027.

As for the north-south Trillium Line, which was set to open in 2022, OC Transpo has yet to announce a start date for trial running, which is a critical step for handover, pushing the line's launch to the public well into October.