Mayor Jim Watson says passengers will be riding light rail transit in September.
Watson made the announcement on Tuesday after a meeting with Alstom, the company making the trains, and the Rideau Transit Group, the consortium in charge of building the Confederation Line.
Based on the new timeline, Alstom will complete the trains by July 7 and RTG will hand over the LRT to the city of Ottawa in the second or third week of August. After the handover, the city will need four weeks of testing.
Issues with the trains, including doors, brakes and the on-board communication system, have been behind the ongoing delays. The Alstom Citadis Spirit is a brand new model in Alstom's Citadis line of light rail train cars. Ottawa is the first city in the world to order them.
RTG has missed four LRT deadlines. The $2.1 billion project was originally due on May 24, 2018.
Tuesday's announcement will be welcome news for transit riders, who have been complaining about OC Transpo reliability. In September 2018, OC Transpo reduced service on some routes in anticipation of LRT. Earlier this month, city council voted to keep OC Transpo fares frozen until LRT opens.
The LRT Confederation Line runs 12.5 kilometres from Blair Road in the east end to Tunney's Pasture in the west. There will be 13 stations in total, with 10 kilometres running above ground and 2.5 kilometres underground.
