Tracking the Progress: Ottawa's O-Train Stage 2 Southern Extension - August 2024

[@trevorritchie2575]

Line 2 continues to disappoint in so many ways. So much single track, not being electrified, having to transfer to get to the airport 2 years late and double the budget. Your videos however do not disappoint. Great job as always!

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Cry harder

[@capitalinventor4823]

The whole system continues to disappoint. The fact that the transit system is going from one bus route to get someone from downtown to the airport to forcing people to take three trains (Line 1 to Baysview, Line 2 to South Keys, Line 4 to the Airport) is an abomination in design.

[@theguyfromsaturn]

@@capitalinventor4823 It does boggle the mind. Someone coming to town should be able to get out of the plane and use one train to downtown, agreed. Plus, they started with a decent 5 minute interval between trains (which was killed by the horrible 30 minutes between buses for the final mile), to having and overall horrible 10 minute per train. I guess the services is now just as bad as the bus service.

[@wizardsuth]

It would be nice if Greenboro station had a connection to the recreational trail on the west side of the tracks, but unfortunately unlike South Keys there is no tunnel to reach it.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@spinladen1774]

Extending line 4 to Hurdman using the transitway will be welcomed someday. More train frequency and one less transfer to downtown from the airport.

[@franklynmars3207]

Helloo Rail Fans, Thanks soo delightfully much for sharing the latest epic construction progress of the OTrain Stage West Extension progress. Always keeping up with your vids from T.O but I'm soo happy foe Ottawa; wen it opens will be buadorse and xciting mon!😂😅

[@MadawaskaObservatory]

This is one your best videos ever.

[@cheers2262]

It would be great if they could extend Limebank Station to Barrhaven in Stage 3 so that both Lines 1 & 2 are connected to it and people will have more options to reach their destination

[@BlubbyO]

Currently there is existing bus transitway that goes half of the way from Marketplace to Limebank. The only extension that has been sitting there for years unfinished and unused, is at Chapman Mills and Longfields. It is supposed to travel in behind around the new Minto housing development to the arriving and departing area @ Marketplace. Instead they had and still do have the buses arrive and depart narrowly slithering between two giant condo/retirement buildings, contending with another three intersections and local retail traffic.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

​@@BlubbyO 😢😢

[@capitalinventor4823]

Back in the 00's there was a plan to have a train go from Barrhaven, travel east, go across the Rideau River at what is now Vimy Bridge (at Strandherd Road), head over to Ottawa South, and then go downtown. The problem was that trains were going to take longer than the then Express bus routes and the normal 95 route (which got turned into the 75). I'd prefer if they created a new line that would connect the the main hubs of suburbs without having to go (partly) downtown. This new line would connect Kanata, Stittsville, Bells Corners(?), Barrhaven, Ottawa South, Gloucester (?), and Orleans for example. Or perhaps stop it at Blair since the the line out to Orleans would be a duplicate unless I'm forgetting about someplace in the southeast that could be linked up.

[@kolejnakolej.1437]

Interesting video. 👍

[@tkdbrother1977]

Line 2 residents are considered second class. Not sure why they did not double track the whole line except for tunnel and Dows Lake station. The line was closed for 4 years for a makeover north of Greenboro.

[@Mystro256]

I can understand some of it. Some underpasses aren't wide enough and can be difficult to shut down roads to redo, the trench south of Gladstone is tricky too. The most disappointing is Walkley... They just put in that station, it won't be double tracked, and the track is already double tracked just north of walkley. It's a big missed opportunity, especially if they replace the transitway to hurdman with a rail line (e.g. they could extend line 4 up there without impacting line 2).

[@tkdbrother1977]

@@Mystro256 OC Transpo is expert in missed opportunity. Often do things half way. Either you do it well or dont do it all. Look at bus fare box, GPS on buses. Nobody knows. It is underwhelming disappointing.

[@lovehandr]

@@Mystro256 The 2006 plan would have double tracked everything and at less cost. We renovated the Walkley overpass instead of rebuilding it to allow for two tracks.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@wizardsuth]

While I appreciate Leitrim station's bus loop being part of the fare paid zone, it makes it awkward to go north on the recreational trail. You have to go to the end of the bus loop fence and back again.

[@lovehandr]

When are they actually going to build the recreational trail? The last I looked, it is just a rough dirt track going south from Hunt Club

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@drdewott9154]

It looks nice but some decissions just really dont make sense. Like making all line 4 stations only half length, and not double tracking more of the corridor. Its nice that the airport is getting a rail link but with 2 transfers required to get into downtown its practically useless for people with such impracticalities. And while its nice that big dense developments are gonna be built around Bayview, hopefully pushing more downtown activity towards this station, its still not enough. It really looks like as much of the way from South Keys to Bayview should have been double tracked, to allow both Line 2 and 4 to go all the way to Bayview, possibly allowing trains every 6 minutes in each direction.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

Agreed. If they had double tracked all the stations between South Keys and Bayview they could run every 7.5 minutes even if they still left the Dow's Lake tunnel as single track. It would be so much nicer for Line 2 and Line 4 to both go to Bayview

[@RailFansCanada]

If they had double tracked from South Keys to Bayview they could have run the Airport line directly to Bayview without impacting the mainline service. Still, the transfer shouldn't be too bad at South Keys with only a few minutes wait at most.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@davidcook8065]

I'm not very familiar with Ottawa. What is the point of Bowesville station? Is a lot of development planned for the area around the station? At the moment it seems like all it's going to do is slow down journeys with an extra stop.

[@retrop1783]

Not sure, all I can think of is it being a park & ride for Riverside South, but then they got Riverview station so idk

[@wizardsuth]

Mooney's Bay station was originally called Confederation station because it's in Confederation Heights.

[@RailFansCanada]

That's the irony. Made more sense than Mooney's Bay. Even more ironic is they are getting away from using the name Confederation Line, so this station lost its original name to be used elsewhere and ultimately retired.

[@owensiderius4534]

I think the best name for the station would be Brookfield due to the proximity of the road and the highschool. Calling it Mooneys bay is almost misleading

[@Awol991]

I am surprised that there is so much single track south of Moony's Bay station. Lots of land. IE @ Walkley. Greenboro

[@Mystro256]

Walkley really should have been double tracked since it's new. They can extend line 4 to hurdman or similar if they want to connect it to line 1 without affecting line 2.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢

[@magnabaddelta-thriller5603]

I love Corso Italia… though this line kinda bothers me, why are they sections that are one tracks or 2 tracks, why not just made the whole line with double tracks

[@RailFansCanada]

It is quite nice, and really stands out at night with the lights on.

[@magnabaddelta-thriller5603]

Walkley too

[@wizardsuth]

The tunnel under Dow's Lake is only wide enough for one track.

[@MisdirectedSasha]

@@wizardsuth Yeah, that's understandable. I would imagine they'll widen it eventually, but it's going to be expensive. It's a little odd that they didn't immediately double the tracks south of Mooney's Bay Station, though, given the extensive modifications they've already done to the track there.

[@tycanuck]

Cost was a determining factor. Double tracks along the entire line is never going to happen in our lifetime.

[@spinladen1774]

Anyone who calls this system "above par" has clearly not taken metro systems in other parts of the world. The issue here is not getting what was promised in return for the $6 billion being spent. Huge missed opportunity here.

[@MadawaskaObservatory]

Oh well, we may not get the south extension until 2025. Which would make it 3 years late. I'm sure it will be fantastic one it gets going!

[@lovehandr]

I suspect it won't be as fantastic as you hope.

[@spinladen1774]

Still 12 min waits, that's the biggest disappointment.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢

[@johnichu]

tis about a 23min walk from station to mooney's bay park

[@RailFansCanada]

Definitely reachable, but unlikely it will be the big draw for that station. I doubt people would to go that beech with their families and walk 20-25 minutes with all their beech stuff and picnic baskets when they would more likely take a bus route to within 2-3 minutes instead.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢

[@Mr.Flintstone]

Line 2 (o train) is a perfect example of lack of vision and foresight in Ottawa

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Cry harder

[@capitalinventor4823]

Line 2 is the perfect example of something that is seen in the software development industry all of the time. Line 2 was originally call the O-Train and was a pilot project to see if a train would work in Ottawa. It wasn't intended to remain a working line after the project was finished. But like many software projects, the end result was good enough so it was used as a finished, completely working line after the demonstration project ended. That's why there aren't double tracks. Double tracks were to be added after the after the demo was finished and a "proper" process to get a rail line installed could be performed.

[@Mr.Flintstone]

@@capitalinventor4823 100000000% good analogy

[@SteveReggie]

Corso Italia is an unusual name for a station. Could you explain?

[@SteveReggie]

They took pains that stations' names are in both English and French. But this one is in Italian.

[@spinladen1774]

Little Italy is next door

[@RailFansCanada]

As explained by others: Corso Italia was originally named Gladstone Station, but was renamed along some other stations on the Stage 2 project to better align with their surroundings. This article from CTV does explain the rationale a bit more: ottawa.ctvnews.ca/next-stop-corso-italia-mayor-unveils-proposed-new-names-for-trillium-line-stations-1.5165087

[@Aqualyra]

It's because it's almost at Preston Street, which runs through Little Italy and has had signage dubbing it Corso Italia, since 1986 or so.

[@palsada1166]

I'm in actually disbelief that they didn't double the line, or at least add another pass-by track. It's going to be sloooooow waiting the only train moving going between south keys and bayview.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢

[@theguyfromsaturn]

I thought the service interruptions on line 2 were because they were going to make it two tracks. I'm sure the powers that be will be surprised to find out that ridership is garbage. One track limits maximum service to start. Having the overall service now down to a miserable 10 minutes shows how they see the system. They don't seem to be aware that the service interval is the best predictor of the usage of public transit. Now the trains meet the shittiness of the 30 minute interval bus schedule. It's a real race to the bottom. An awesome way to kill a large investment.

[@johnmurray8428]

In the 21st century we have a diesel powered rail line, co2 and other pollutants in the exhaust! It is only a year + late and still not carrying passengers.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

There are plenty of valid reasons to have diesel trains in the 21st century, like minor rural branch lines with infrequent service. But diesel trains make no sense on the O-Train network with high frequencies and frequent stops

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

Boo hoo

[@bencns]

Ottawa Fun Fact: The O-Train trillium line, despite appearing to be a fully operational train line does not actually carry any passengers, this is because it is just for show to make Ottawa appear more modern than it actually is, think of it like those fake apartments in North Korea along the South Korean border.

[@djsmeguk]

@@bencns the trains are an animated backdrop to my morning Tim's run past limebank. As nature intended suburban Ottawa to be. 👍😂

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢

[@robertmorley3609]

A map would have been nice.

[@RailFansCanada]

Thanks for the comments. For our video with a map that goes over the features and operation of the line, I invite you to view our Overview video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHybk6F9i86jsLM

[@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835]

Took about the same amount of time to make the CPR by hand to Vancouver across the continent. This still isn’t ready and there was already a railway there and you say impressive???? Lol. That’s sad….

[@ryanmorrison4874]

Slave labour wasn't used in this project, and hundreds didn't die... times have changed.

[@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835]

@@ryanmorrison4874 There was no slave labour. And it was normal for people to die.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

It is no longer normal for people to die in construction projects. Times have changed

[@daniellewis1789]

Removing an existing railway first adds substantial time to the process.

[@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835]

@@daniellewis1789 That is crap.

[@studio8219]

A very partisan description of the “Owe” train. Beautifully narrated propaganda lol

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢😢

[@lovehandr]

Fancy stations, but does it actually deliver better service? The answer is NO. Meanwhile, the cost to operate the train is skyrocketing and its opening will be accompanied by major bus route cuts to pay for the trains. This is an improvement? And there is still no resolution on providing reliable transfers between trains and buses. 12 minute trains do not schedule reliably with 30 minute buses.

[@Cagnaccioitalia]

😢😢boo hooo