Weekly newsletter: December 3, 2024
Hi everyone!
Last week, I celebrated my birthday by becoming incredibly ill! Nothing like a solid reminder of your own mortality. At least I’m spending quality time with my wife hacking away at our lungs together.
I did see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Canadian Tire Centre before I became ill, though. Super cool show. Never thought I’d headbang to Christmas music…
Anyway, I’ve been ordered by my staff and my wife (a winning combination) to take it easy for another few days, so this newsletter is a bit thinner.
Trillium Line dress rehearsal
Opening date to be announced this Friday, December 6.
Last Saturday, I joined about 500 volunteer “passengers” for a dress rehearsal of the Trillium Line, future O-Train lines 2 and 4.
The volunteer passengers were essentially uncontrolled variables, navigating the system without a preset itinerary. They were interspersed with additional “actors,” who played out different scenarios and drills to test staff responsiveness and system resiliency.
Scenarios ranged from something as simple as a train door being held open to a more complex scenario like a reported lost child. The more complex scenarios led to minor delays in service—the most I observed was about 15 minutes.
End-to-end trips were reliably 34 minutes, otherwise!
The coolest parts of the line for me were heading into Carleton Station over the Rideau River (I missed that view) and seeing the apron from inside the train at Airport Station.
The new Stadler trains, to be used on Line 2, are comfortable and sturdy. They have informative passenger information display screens at each doorway that shows the next station and (in an OC Transpo first) estimated travel time to the following station and the terminus.
The older Alstom trains that ran the old Trillium Line before it was closed for expansion will mostly serve Line 4, the airport spur. However, those trains may be dispatched to Line 2 in couples where required.
All train doors will also open at all stations, unlike the previous arrangement where doors opened on demand. That decision was primarily a response to accessibility concerns about button-activated doors.
The stations are simple to navigate. Most importantly, at Limebank Station, the main connection point for buses to/from Barrhaven East, the bus platform isn’t a kilometre away—it’s built around the train station! I made a short video↗ at Limebank and Bowesville stations for future navigational reference.
From what I observed on Saturday, there are still a few deficiencies in the system, affecting mostly the passenger displays at platforms and on trains, while a few elevators have yet to enter service. However, none appear to affect the physical operation of the trains.
I should note, however, erroneous passenger displays at single-track stations may become problematic, especially if people are not paying attention to the direction from which the train enters the station or if announcements are not sufficient or audible.
Staff expect to have the remaining deficiencies corrected by the time the line opens to the public.
Additionally, a minor change was made to the transfer arrangement at South Keys between lines 2 and 4.
OC Transpo will announce an opening date at their technical briefing Friday December 6. Between now and then, they will continue working on known deficiencies and other adjustments based on observations from Saturday. Additional testing and operator certifications will continue as well.
The technical briefing should be live-streamed on the City of Ottawa’s YouTube channel↗.
Sprung structure – staff-led information session
Councillor Sean Devine and City staff are hosting an in-person information session at halls A and B at the Nepean Sportsplex tomorrow, Wednesday, December 4, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
According to staff’s messaging, the session will include information about the asylum claimant process, services to be provided at the sprung structure, site selection process, and details and timelines for the proposal.
Refugee613 and Stantec (who City staff contracted for site evaluations) will also be present.
As a reminder, City staff shared a memo in November with the results of the detailed site evaluation, which notes the sites at 1645 Woodroffe (beside the Sportsplex) and 40 Hearst Way (beside the Eagleson Park and Ride in Kanata) were selected as preferred locations for the sprung structures based on the scoring criteria contained in the memo.
The two sites in Barrhaven were ultimately removed from consideration due to the higher cost of on-site works at Nepean Woods and potential future uses at Greenbank/Highbury Park.
I continue to work in the background to address issues with poor communication and transparency throughout the process, as well as the inappropriate built form.
Thanks for reading!
-Wilson