Confederation Line

History

The line was approved unanimously by the City Council on December 19, 2012 after many years of debate on a rapid transit network for the city. The line represents the initial phase of the network and will be implemented through a 30-year Design-Build-Finance-Maintenance agreement with the Rideau Transit Group. The Citadis Spirit light train will be used to provide passenger service.

On June 8, 2016, a sinkhole opened in the middle of Rideau Street near its intersection with Sussex Drive, 25 metres above the LRT tunnel construction, swallowing three lanes of the street and a parked van. The collapse forced evacuation of the Rideau Centre and the closing of a number of local streets and businesses; no one was injured or killed, but the nearly- completed tunnel was flooded, submerging a roadheader. Repairs are to take an undetermined amount of time.

Testing of the line's rolling stock began in late 2016, and was planned to continue through most of the following year before the line opens to the public in 2018.

Route

Plans call for Confederation Line to extend from Tunney's Pasture station in the west to Blair Road at Highway 174 in the east (Blair station), a distance of 12.5 km (7.8 mi) including a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) tunnel running under Queen Street in the central business district. The line will connect to the existing Bus Rapid Transitway at Tunney’s Pasture Station in the west and Blair Road in the east, and to the O-Train Trillium Line at Bayview Station.

Stations

There will be 13 stations along the line. It is proposed to change some of the names for stations shown on earlier plans to better reflect community locale and to be bilingual. The three downtown subway stations are to have 120 metre platforms; the remainder will be 90 metres with provision for future expansion.

Blair station, a major transfer point between with the East Transitway (Route 95) to Orleans.

Cyrville station

St. Laurent station, integrated with the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. Major transfer between the Confederation line and east end bus routes.

Tremblay station (originally called Train station), a transfer point to Via Rail inter-regional services at Ottawa Train Station. A pedestrian bridge has been built to serve Ottawa Stadium north of the Queensway.

Hurdman station, a major transfer point with the Southeast Transitway to south Ottawa.

Lees station

uOttawa station (originally called Campus station), to be built over the existing station, also replacing Laurier Station, serving the University of Ottawa.

Rideau station, located under Rideau Street, integration with the Rideau Centre complex. Replaces the existing Mackenzie King Station and will be a major transfer station, providing transfers between the Confederation Line and the city's urban bus routes to the east (Montreal Road) and south (Bank Street).

Parliament/Parlement station (original plans showed it as Downtown East), located under Queen Street, replacing the Bank and Metcalfe stations. Direct connection to the Sun Life Centre and Heritage Place.

Lyon station, located under Queen Street, replacing the Bay and Kent stations. To be integrated with Place de Ville's underground concourse and a future Claridge residential development.

Pimisi station (previously called Lebreton station) is planned to have an aboriginal theme in consultation with the Algonquins of Ontario; the location will improve transit connections with Gatineau and create a new transit node along Booth Street.

Bayview station, a major transfer point with the north-south Trillium Line to south Ottawa.

Tunney's Pasture station, a major federal government employment area and transfer point with the Southwest Transitway to Barrhaven and West Transitway to Kanata.

Rolling stock

As part of the winning consortium for the project, Alstom will provide thirty-four Citadis Spirit LRVs. It is the company's first order for modern light rail vehicles in North America, competing directly with similar models such as the Siemens S70 (which was originally ordered for the original extension plan for the Trillium Line but was later cancelled). Derived from the earlier Citadis X-04 series used in Europe, they will be assembled in Alstom's plant in Hornell, New York with final assembly in Ottawa at a new depot and rail yard at Belfast Road and St-Laurent Boulevard, directly behind OC Transpo's headquarters and main bus depot (down the track from Tremblay station).

Signalling on the line will be handled by Thales’ SelTrac semi-automatic communication-based train control (CBTC) technology. Thales will design, build, maintain the system, and support its installation and commissioning.

Oc transpo's Announcement video of their chosen Light Rail Vehicles

Construction

In mid-April 2015, OC Transpo posted a list of bus route changes as a result of the closure of the Transitway between Hurdman Station and Blair Station. As a result of the closure, many new routes are being created and existing routes modified, most notably routes 94, 95, and 96. Many routes will use new bus-only lanes on Highway 417, and several others will be altered or shortened to avoid serving the construction area. The changes are meant to provide extra service to those in areas affected by the Transitway closure, and to avoid as many delays as possible while construction on the Confederation Line progresses. The 417 widening project is finished.

Stage 2 and beyond

The City of Ottawa is promoting the Stage 2 project to extend the Confederation Line, once it is finished, eastwards by 4 or 5 stations and westwards by 10 stations.

In November 2013, the City of Ottawa released its new transportation master plan which includes 35 kilometres of new rapid transit and 19 new stations. This would extend the city's rapid transit service to the west at Bayshore Shopping Centre, south west at Algonquin College's Baseline Station, south to Riverside South and Place d'Orleans to the east.

The city plans to start construction as soon as the first phase is complete in 2018. The full system would be operational by 2023. The plan is however dependent on financial commitment from the upper tier governments ($1 billion from each level, for a total of $3 billion). The Government of Ontario has committed in principle, based on the governing party's 2014 election campaign platform.

The city is working on finalizing plans for the current gap in service between Dominion Station and Lincoln Fields Station where buses travel a little over 4 kilometres without stopping on the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The plan calls for burying trains for most of the route, creating a shorter, straighter alignment. The new route will also include two new rapid transit stations in an urban area with plenty of densification opportunities.

In July 2015, the city released a functional report on the Stage 2 system expansion. This report added the possibility of an airport link on the Trillium Line and a further extension from Place d'Orleans to Trim Road.