Ottawa O-Train Line 1 Starts at Noon Today as East Extension Heads for Full Test Runs

Ottawa's O-Train Line 1 opened four hours late on Sunday (November 15), with trains starting at noon instead of the usual morning start so crews could install new train control software for the east extension of the Confederation Line. Replacement R1 buses covered the line between Tunney's Pasture and Blair from 8 a.m. until noon, with shuttle buses serving the St-Laurent and Cyrville area and the Lees to Mackenzie King Bridge section.

Software rewritten by Hitachi, clearing a hurdle for testing

The software, reprogrammed by Hitachi as a subcontractor to the East West Connectors consortium, is one of the critical items that had to be cleared before testing of the extension could move forward. OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary set out the staged November plan in a memo to councillors on November 4, saying the updates would be tested and validated through the week following the installation.

Full-length test runs to Trim station from November 22

From Sunday, November 22, trains will for the first time run the full length of the line from Tunney's Pasture through Blair to Trim station, passing through the five new stations of the east extension. Rideau Transit Maintenance plans to launch 23 trains at intervals of about four and a half minutes, although passengers will still have to leave the trains at Blair because the extension is not yet open to the public.

The full-line runs are the next step before pre-trial running, a phase expected to last about a week. That will be followed by 21 days of trial running and a final period of certification work. CBC analysis of that sequence suggests a passenger opening before the new year is unlikely, and Leary has declined to give an opening date for the extension to Orléans.

Line 1 opened in September 2019 with 13 stations over 12.5 kilometres and quickly became the backbone of transit in the Canadian capital. The east extension is the most advanced part of the Stage 2 expansion of the O-Train network, which is also taking the line west and building new branches to the south of the city.

(File photo: an Ottawa O-Train light rail train, photographed in 2019.)