Final round of Trillium line testing puts opening at mid-November — at the earliest

The City of Ottawa says final testing of the north-south Trillium light rail line will begin this coming Monday — meaning the earliest the line could open to riders is mid-November.

Transit services general manager Renée Amilcar held a technical briefing on Thursday, saying OC Transpo will not open the system expansion until it is "absolutely confident of its readiness and safety."

Amilcar said the testing will ensure TransitNext, the contractor that built the system and will maintain it, is up to the task.

"This is TransitNext's final exam, and it will be a rigorous one," she said.

The trial running period is contractually required and will mean greater monitoring and reporting than testing done in the past. It will last at least 21 days, beginning with a 14-day reliability testing period where OC Transpo is aiming to achieve a 98.5-per-cent average for on-time departures.

The threshold will not change, so a major issue on the 14th day could mean starting over again, Amilcar said.

Shifting goalposts and poor transparency were identified as issues during the public inquiry into the east-west Confederation Line LRT project. 

"This time we have full transparency," Amilcar said. "There are no secrets."

Officials project confidence and caution

Richard Holder, director of the city's rail construction program, said performance has improved since the last technical briefing when software bugs were delaying progress.

All conditions to launch trial running are now met, he said, promising that OC Transpo will "not be rushing" through the process.

"We have studied hard," said Amilcar. "We have done our exercise today. If we're in front of you, it's because we are confident."

She said there has been strong collaboration with TransitNext and "the vibe" has been positive.

Holder said the system lacks the sharp curves and bearing assemblies that have plagued the Confederation Line.

"This is a very robust, reliable, stable system that is used all around the world so we're very confident about the reliability moving forward," he said.

Still, Amilcar cautioned about being "too positive."

She explained that Trillium has another key difference that could cause problems of its own: frequent switches that move trains from single-track to double-track portions of the line, components Amilcar warned can be "very sensitive."

"So far we are doing great, but I know that will happen," she said. "We will have a switch problem."

That won't necessarily mean a fail and restart of testing, but it could, depending on how quickly TransitNext is able to respond.

OC Transpo plans to provide regular updates on reliability testing to city council and the media five days a week.

Trial running followed by 'final readiness' phase

The 14-day reliability testing period will be followed by a seven-day period where OC Transpo will "play with the system," putting it through challenging scenarios like a medical emergency or an immobilized train.

Amilcar said there are no pass/fail standards for that stage, though "if we need to play more with the system, we will."

If everything goes smoothly, that means the trial running could wrap up on Oct. 29, though that will not be the day trains will open to passengers.

OC Transpo must still get regulatory approval from Transport Canada to operate the Trillium Line, plus a certificate of fitness from the Canadian Transportation Agency. The system would then enter a "final readiness phase" that will take a minimum of three weeks.

Troy Charter, director of transit service delivery and rail operations, said that final phase will include two emergency response simulations, as well as a "dress rehearsal" involving hundreds of volunteers.

Amilcar also said a major change to OC Transpo's bus network intended to mesh with the Trillium line won't happen until April at the earliest, since it will be difficult to implement during winter weather.

The previous, shorter version of the north-south rail line closed in the spring of 2020. The plan was to reopen with expanded service in August 2022, but there have been several delays getting it built and ready.

The nearly $5-billion rail transit expansion will also extend tracks east to Trim Road and west to Algonquin College and Moodie Drive. 

The most recent target for opening the eastern expansion was the summer of 2025. The western extension could open in late 2026 or early 2027.