Connecting New Communities and Improving Service: An Overview of Stage 2's Southern Extension
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- čas přidán 29. 12. 2022
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O-Train Line 2 first opened on October 15, 2001, and featured 5 stations from Bayview in the north to Greenboro in the south. The O-Train is quickly being expanded to add additional service coverage in the East, West and South of Ottawa, in a project called Stage 2 LRT. In this video, we will be providing an overview of the Southern Extension of O-Train Line 2, which will extend service south to Limebank in Riverside South, as well as the Airport Link (or Line 4) that will service the Ottawa International Airport.
This project will increase the length of Line 2 from 8km to 20km and feature a total of 11 new and existing stations. An interesting particularity of this segment is that it will feature several elevated segments along the line. A separate spur line, Line 4 or the Airport Link, will run between the South Keys Station and the Airport, providing an O-Train connection between the Airport terminal and the rest of the O-Train network. It will feature a length of 4km and have 3 stations (including South Keys).
Video by Shane Seguin
Drone photos by Patrick McKay (@PatrickTMcKay)
Additional photos by David Bellerive (@dbellerive15) and Derek Ellis (@deellisd)
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I continue to be surprised at the missed opportunities with Ottawa's LRT build. Single-track to one of the highest-growth areas of the city which will limit the frequency of trains in rush hours. Open-air station platforms exposing Ottawans to the weather in one of the coldest capital cities in the world. Diesel trains in a city committing to mitigating climate change and where the Confederation line is all-electric. We could have done so much better.
We are definitely worried that a closure will, once again, be needed to expand the line as more developments are built along the line. We do hope that the city will find ways to build double-tracking along most of the way.
However, it is a clear case of penny pinching now to keep the price under a given target. We hope those attitudes will change as Stage 3 and other projects are being developed.
@@RailFansCanada Thanks for your reply. Here's hoping both the City and us as citizens see these projects as investments with a lifetime exceeding a current political term.
I think this will still be my favourite line. Great video!
Mine too! Thanks Ian.
Same with me!
As a Carleton student living in Barrhaven, same!
Another great video!
I cannot understand why they designed an airport rail link that requires three separate trains to get downtown.
Our own analysis suggests a different route into and out of the airport would have allowed the trains to loop through and continue to the south, however it would have involved some complexities due to the airport tarmacs. With the current setup, council had made a choice between which line to prioritize, the Line 2 south of South Keys or the Line going to the airport. As the mainline is mainly single track, there is a limit to how frequently trains can run, which is generally every 12 minutes. Should the trains go to the airport directly from Bayview, it would have resulted in a shuttle service between Limebank and South Keys, or alternatively, if alternating trains instead with both offering direct service to Bayview, a 24 minute frequency on both branches, south of South Keys.
At some point in the future, the line will inevitably be double tracked from South Keys to Bayview and the direct service would then happen, but when that will happen is anyone's guess. It has been stated though that there will be occasions they will run a direct service to Bayview but I suspect they will be limited occurrences (I was previously given an example of a large scale event at the EY Centre, such as ComicCon).
In any case, there is nothing preventing council from changing their position at some point to run a direct service Bayview to Airport, and downgrade the frequency to Limebank but again, they would likely choose to serve residents over airport users. Time will tell.
@@RailFansCanada The trip south of the terminal would be hard to get approved since there are long-term plans to have a second runway parallel to runway 07-25. It would be almost where Leitrim Road is now and will necessitate the relocation of Leitrim Road south of its current path. The Ottawa Airport Authority is reluctant to do any significant work in that area because of the long-term implications.
@@ccudmore If there is a demand for a new runway the same traffic increase would justify better O-train service to the airport.
Cool video! Thanks for the Information!
I am disappointed that there was not more doubletracking done. It seemed like they had ripped a lot of track out around Carleton and Carling, if not everywhere.
The whole line was ripped up and rebuilt. The good news is some sections that previously had a passing track are now a station, such as Corso Italia (Gladstone) so rather than stopping and waiting to pass , the train will be stopped at a station instead. Better use of the time.
Unfortunately the cost of double tracking the whole alignment is super expensive relative to its projected ridership, not to mention aging infrastructure which already absorbed lots of money. In no less than a decade, maybe two, the line will be both twinned and fully electrified. On the bright side, all the new bridge structures have supposedly been built to support double tracking, hence only their decks would need replacing. A second DL tunnel and double tracking through the bedrock will be the largest expenses for the future expansion.
It'll end up costing more in the long run with even more service interruptions. Now was the time to double track the entire length and electrify the line while it was shut down for this expansion
@@trevorritchie2575 This is Ottawa, we don't make rational decisions with transit construction, we penny pinch to look good and then spend more money in the long run when it doesn't work out!
@@captainaaron96 I think a new double-track bridge over the canal would have been better. Or, conceivably, a single track bridge to double up the single-track tunnel. But that would probably not cost a lot less than a double-track bridge.
Good overview! I hope one day you can look at other rail transit projects outside Ottawa and Montreal. We have some interesting ones here in Alberta being constructed or proposed.
Thanks for your feedback. We did an overview of the many projects across Canada earlier in December. Coast to Coast: Looking Back at the Progress of Rail Projects Throughout Canada in 2022
czcams.com/video/Q6e5j26_i4Q/video.html
The recent TSB letter to Ottawa mentioned that LRTs are desigbed for up to 10,000 passengers per hour per direction, but Ottawa required 24,000 which is in subway territory.
That in the 21st century, a city would rebuild a single track DIESEL rapid transit within the city is abolutelyt stupid. This lilne should have been double tracked and made electric, even if the tunnel to Carleton would be single track. All of the money being spent on this line is wasted because it will have to be rebuilt and electrified and new vehicles procured.
The Stadler would have been of use to reach out to Arnprior or perhaps even to Casselman on the VIA tracks. But not for a "metro" system.
The South keys mandatory transfer is another stupidity (imposed because by being single tracked, they won't hacve capacity to have airport trains reach Bayview and then another forced transfer to get downtown. Taking the 97 bus to Hurdman and then the R1 to downtown (except on rare occasions where the LRT amusement ride is working) requires lot less transfers. The original 97 bus to downtown was even better.
Unfortunatly, there is no accountability for politicians imposing technical requirements that result in a failed system. The former mayor purposefully fast tracked the contracts for the diesel line and giving it to SNC because of the risk that SNC Lavalin would be barred from any government contract due to corruption, but in so doing, cemented the wasting of money on recreating the existing service.
The line 2 terminus is not just in middle of highway, but in the middle of the important intersection of Trim/highway and forver prevent building of an interchange there. As a result, Trim terminals north of highway and traffice have to connect with 174 viua a long detour and that detour prevent creation of storage tracks for the terminus station. Absolutely stupid design. When you build permanent infrastructure, it should be built correctly.
It's a shame they couldn't have used the prince of wales bridge to run trains up to Alexandre-Taché to connect with the rapibus. Even with the future portage bridge tram, it would be good to have multiple connections.
While we would also love to see the Trillium Line go further North, capacity constraints between Bayview and Downtown Ottawa are seen as an obstacle that would not make the Trillium viable as the main connection point. Hopefully we see such plans further down the road once the Gatineau Tramway is up and running! -David
@@RailFansCanada Nobody wants to hear about capacity constraints between Bayview and Downtown. That sentence should not be uttered for a few decades. It must mean something wasn't invested properly. Gosh, maybe getting low-floor trains wasn't so clever?
Should the Line 4 Airport Link expand all the way to Bayview Station? Because Line 4 can also connect with Line 2 from South Keys to Bayview with the rest of the Northbound stations.
Hello Patrick. As you mentioned, the track does connect from Airport to Bayview, however as Line 2 is primarily still a single track operation, and city council decided to prioritize service towards Limebank, the Airport Link will only travel to South Keys. However there can be opportunities when a direct service to Bayview occurs but it will likely be rare. When the line is yet again closed and upgraded at some point in the future and double tracked, it would be inevitable that the Airport will be served directly from Bayview. Or prior to that, the priorities could change and offer that direct service by reducing service frequency to Limebank. Time will tell.
i have a quick question about line 2: how come some stations are side-platform stations, such as corso italia and carleton, yet some stations such as mooneys bay and dows lake have only 1 platform for all trains gong both directions?
The line is primarily single track so there are some spots that are double tracked for trains to pass. As a result , some of the station locations are where the tracks would be doubled for passing.
What stations are double tracked? Can the train frequency be reduced to 8 minutes at peak times now that we have multiple double track stations?
There isn’t enough double tracking to allow passing at key locations to lower the frequency to 8 minutes.
I'm disappointed that they had to create a fourth line to the airport. That means taking three separate trains to get downtown from the airport. I'm surprised they simply didn't connect it to the rest of the line, and have trains either go to limebank or airport. Would have simplified things.
Interlining the trains would have resulted in halved frequency south of South Keys, a decision that was rejected by the city. Unless frequency is increased, which will require double tracking on most of the line, we are not too hopeful to see changes to the service plan.
However, the transfer at South Keys will be rather seamless, as users will simply board a train on the same platform: no need to move between platforms or levels. It will be interesting to track ridership once it opens.
@@RailFansCanada When you have luggage and are coming from the caribeean and it is -75° with cold windy and snow, that transfer o an outside station will not be pleasant, especially since a similar transfer with stairs will be needed to Bayview. And that is when the line will be running. What happens when it goes down, will the dieseles from airport still run and just dump people at South Keys and they will have to just wait there or figure out a way to get to the R2 bus that will be overwhelmed and no space for them? Remember, travellers with liggage.
4:40 I spotted the Montreal Metro map
On the same render, you can also find the screens used by the TTC throughout their network! Ottawa takes influence from everywhere!
One of my peeves is that there's so much wasted opportunity, so many of these stations are servicing....cows and corn fields...there's so little density in these suburban, car loving communities who I'm not convinced are going to use these trains. Limebank isn't close to anything, it's going to require a long walk or bus or car trip to get there. It'll be years maybe decasdes before the housing, density build up around it to warrant a transit line like this.
They went with path of least resistance. They should have built a line to service, like Montreal Rd out to Montfort Hospital (or beyond). They should have built a Carling line branching from the Carling station all the way west. There are so many more dense and poorer areas of the city that would benefit from transit that the cows and cornfields in Barehaven.
Personally I would have rather seen for Stage 2 the trains extended to South Keys and then the Airport. Going West to extend to Terry Fox or atleast Eagleson rather than Moodie and in Orleans to Place d’Orleans rather than Trim. And maybe then a surface line through Vanier. Perhaps between Montreal and Rideau stations.
@@RailFansCanada There's some political baggage. Their original "Line 1" project was for double-tracked electric to the fast-growing Southern suburbs, but politics came into play and it was cancelled in favour of what is now the East-West Line 1. The southern suburbs needed to have something to replace what was supposed to have been built a decade ago.
Should be known that Leitrim & Uplands don’t look like what is shown in this video
That’s true. Although some elements from the renders might make it into the final station. But yes from the recent snapshots it doesn’t appear to be shaping up quite as it was pictured.
It would be nice if they were to release the latest imagery but requests have always stated that those on the official site are the latest which visually doesn’t always appear to be correct.
@@RailFansCanada Yea it’s nothing too special, they basically just copied Bowesville’s design and used it on Uplands & Leitrim except the entrance is a bit different but not that noticeably different
2023, HA. Everybody knows that's overly ambitious and will more likely be 2024 or 2025
We have been tracking the progress since all three extensions broke ground and our observations do lead us to believe end of 2023 is achievable. We are very hopeful no additional delays will be announced given the numerous communities it affects and the loss of a major north-south transit backbone. We really hope to see testing along the full alignment before the end of the winter.
@@RailFansCanada This didn't age well!