By Julie Smithers
City council has adopted recommendations to build a system that will likely replace the diesel-powered Talent trains with electrically-powered light rail trains that would connect the downtown with suburbs including Barrhaven, Kanata and Cumberland.
The recommendations came last month from the Rapid Transit Expansion Study which set out to find alternative modes of transport in February 2002.
The study is a blueprint for building a transit system to accommodate Ottawa’s population, which is expected to grow by 50 per cent by the year 2020 to 1.2 million people.
“We need this infrastructure to accommodate growth, to avoid choking on growth,” says Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen.
“It’s time to build for the future. We’ve outgrown the Transitway.”
In the long term, the improved rail system is supposed to ease traffic congestion and pollution from vehicles. In the short term, it could mean a gap in O-Train service due to scheduling conflicts and technical requirements.
The Talent trains now running have been leased and must either be bought or returned by 2005 according to the current agreement.
Helen Gault, OC Transpo’s manager of planning and development, says the city has estimated it will take at least a year of planning and another two and a half years to build the electric trains.
However, she says this time frame may change in coming months and a new agreement might be arranged.
“The main problem is, given that the city has not agreed to purchase the trains but instead got council to agree to lease them, this pretty much limits (council) to return them,” says Harry Gow, the founding president of Transport 2000, a consumer interest group advocating improved transit.
“I just don’t see how it is possible to continue light rail service if the Talents are returned,” says Gow.
Gow and Transport 2000 support the development of a more extensive light rail system that incorporates electrically powered cars.
Gow insists the city should keep the Talent trains open because they are efficient.
Cullen says the schedule may be a potential problem, but he says a gap in the service is not something he would likely support.
“We will find a solution. I am not prepared to sacrifice the train service that currently serves about 6,000 people,” says Cullen.
Gault says a closure is very likely if the system is electrified not only because of the tight schedule, but also because technical requirements require building grade separations where the O-Train and Via Rail lines cross in two locations.
“I can’t see how a lot of the track work could be done without at least a few months’ (closure),” says Gault.
In the event of a closure, Gault says parallel bus service would be added to accommodate commuters.
Also, she says, any closure would probably be during the summer when ridership is lower to minimize the inconvenience.
Many Carleton students ride the train between September and April.
The next step in building Ottawa’s transit system is expected in May when a plan detailing how it will be implemented and presented to council.