By Jasmine Solomonescu
Preparations for the $16-million light rail pilot project to be launched next summer are on track, says the director of planning and development at OC Transpo.
“It might be a small railway but to get it up and running requires nearly as much work as a railway perhaps 20 times the size,” says Helen Gault of the two-year pilot project, first proposed by the region in its 1997 official plan.
The trains are to run along eight kilometres of existing Canadian Pacific Railway tracks, from Bayview station near LeBreton Flats to Greenboro station at South Keys.
With the planning stages now over, the Region of Ottawa-Carleton and OC Transpo, which will operate the trains, are focusing on driver training and the construction of five new stations.
The construction of Greenboro station, along with three others at Confederation Heights, Carleton University, and Carling Avenue, is to begin this winter and wrap up in time for next summer’s launch.
Construction of Bayview station, which will offer both bus and rail services, will only begin next spring, but Gault says she is confident it will be ready on schedule. She says engineers are looking at how to raise the existing rail line by about two metres and reduce the walking distance between the rail and bus platforms, from 140 metres to about 100 metres, to make it easier for commuters to transfer between buses and trains.
The region has leased three diesel-powered Bombardier trains for the pilot project — the first of their kind to run in North America.
Each is three cars long and seats 135 passengers, with standing room for 150 more. OC Transpo plans to teach bus drivers to operate the new trains, which are to arrive in January 2001.
The region predicts the trains will attract up to 6,400 riders a day.
It plans to offer service every 15 minutes during weekday peak hours, and every half-hour at other times. Commuters will pay the standard OC Transpo fare for bus or train (now $2.25 ) and be able to transfer between both.
Gault says there are already enough buses on the roads to ensure commuters at stations like Bayview and Greenboro don’t have to wait more than a few minutes for a bus.
Still, the region and several planning groups in the Outaouais are considering linking Bayview station to the downtown core and to Place du Portage in Hull via the Prince of Wales bridge, says Pamela Sweet, a planning director for the region.
Another proposed extension would link Greenboro station with Ottawa International Airport. Sweet says feasibility studies for all three extensions are underway, and results should be announced in the new year.
David Gladstone, chair of the City Centre Coalition representing eight downtown community organizations, predicts light rail will ease traffic congestion and improve access to downtown universities and businesses.
“We like to not think of it as a pilot project; we think it’s going to be permanent,” he says.
Based on the success of the pilot project, measured in terms of ridership, maintenance and operating costs, and reliability of service, the new City of Ottawa will decide whether to pursue the project beyond its pilot stage.