The long-awaited southern extension to Ottawa's light rail network is facing a further delay, a city committee heard Wednesday.
The Trillium Line, which had been scheduled to open by this September, now won't open for the start of the school year.
City staff told the light rail subcommittee on Tuesday that they are hoping that contractor SNC-Lavalin will hand over the project to the city in October.
"Previously we described the August-September timeframe as a stretch target, and the push to late September early October is really a function of making sure we blocked out as much time as possible for training," said director of rail operations Michael Morgan.
"The last schedule there were some stretch targets in terms of completing some specific activities, but we hadn’t finalized the agreement of the training requirements and how much time we wanted on track to finish the training before we started the trial running period. Now we are in a much better place, we have agreed to that, but that has put pressure on the schedule. That is why you are seeing a shift, and we are seeing September-October instead of August-September."
The delay means that for the second straight school year, students at Carleton University will not be able to take the train to and from campus.
Staff did not provide an exact timeline for when passengers will be able to use the Trillium Line, saying it depends on how the system performs in city-run testing.
"There is a 21-day period that is set aside for trial running, seven days is set aside for operational exercises to prove that diversion and different things work," said Morgan. "And there is a requirement that over 14-day period for the system to achieve an availability of 98.5 per cent, basically a rolling average of 98.5. One of the recommendations from the public inquiry was to have somebody, an independent third party, objectively assess that 98.5 per cent and we are looking at that now, who is best placed to do that and who can then present to you that the 98.5 was achieved."
Construction work on the stations and rail installation continues. Morgan told committee he hopes to see end-to-end testing on the line by Aug. 1.
"At the highest level, when you start seeing trains going from Bayview all the way to Limebank, that is an indicator that we are on track."
The Trillium Line, also called Line 2, is the first major extension to Ottawa's light rail transit system. It will extend all the way to Limebank Road in Riverside South and include a spur to the airport.
It replaces the previous O-Train, which ran from Bayview to Greenboro stations.
The project is now more than a full year late from its original planned opening date in 2022.
EAST EXTENSION ALSO DELAYED
The eastern extension to the Confederation Line is also further delayed, committee heard Tuesday.
The line to Trim Road is 51 days behind schedule compared to the last update. Handover to the city is now scheduled for January 2025, with trial running scheduled for January and February of that year.
Rail and the overhead catenary system will be installed, allowing for vehicle testing by the end of the year, officials said.
The Confederation Line west extension is still 17 months late, unchanged from the previous update. It's now scheduled to open in late 2026.
At the moment, wildfires are burning across six provinces and one territory in Canada — and they’re still spreading in what’s being called an unprecedented fire season. While firefighters work tirelessly to battle the merciless flames and prevent further destruction, scientists say the wildfires are linked to climate change and that this will be the new normal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ2S+ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
Air Canada says travellers should be prepared for further flight disruptions as it works to return service to normal following a technical malfunction Thursday.
As more Canadians pass their family cottages down to the next generation, 'major shifts' in the ownership of recreational homes will occur, according to Re/Max. But amid concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep that family cottage. Here's what younger generations need to know about inheriting a recreational property and the market today.
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. The far-right People's Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is committed to keeping David Johnston in place as Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference, despite a majority of MPs voting in favour of his stepping down from the gig.
Three Toronto men have been charged with attempted murder after they allegedly shot an innocent dog walker in Schomberg, Ont. in a case of mistaken identity.
Planning to pass time in Montreal's many parks this summer? Check yourself for ticks, warns one woman who recently contracted Lyme disease. Jasmine Rochereul, 23, says she spent much of last summer sprawled in city parks, where she believes she picked up the tick-borne illness.
There will be a lot of music, revelry and fun in downtown Sudbury on Friday evening as the Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Association launches its 'Ultimate Summer Kick-Off' Party. For many, it also marks the unofficial start to patio season.
A popular beach in Bracebridge is open to the public two days after sewing needles were found in the water, but a second beach has since closed over safety concerns.
A local addiction treatment facility is expanding and moving operations to the Mission Services building on York Street. Quintin Warner House staff say the move will mean improved programs for more clients.
A bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth that was toppled and damaged by protesters two years ago was put back in its place Friday on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature after a lengthy set of repairs.
A dozen sheriffs and Calgary Police officers roamed Calgary's core for three months, but the provincial pilot program is officially over as of this week.
A Calgary father and son face a lengthy list of criminal charges after being arrested in connection with the sexual exploitation, assault and extortion of multiple teen girls.
The Weyburn Police Service (WPS) says it has charged a 27-year-old woman following the theft of several "high-powered" firearms and a large amount of ammunition from a residence in nearby Yellow Grass.
