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Photo by Tony Caldwell / Tony Caldwell/Ottawa Sun/QMI Age

When will the Confederation Line actually open?

There is no precise date. It will be sometime after May 24, 2018, the day the city officially takes ownership of it.

As Steve Cripps, director of O-Train Construction wrote in a memo this month: “The city does not expect to receive the trains one day and fill them with passengers the next.”

Once in the city’s possession, there will be testing of the LRT line’s various elements: the vehicles, power supply and distribution, the tracks and switches, the train communication, the control and radio systems, the tunnel ventilation, the fare gates, as well as the elevators, escalators and the fire alarms at all 13 stations.

Meanwhile, transitioning from a public transit network served predominantly by buses to a system comprised of two rail lines and buses requires “meticulous planning,” Cripps wrote. That job falls to OC Transpo, which has already launched a Ready for Rail PR campaign to help riders get the information they need to transition to a new transit routine that, for many, will involve transferring from bus to rail (or vice versa) to complete the trip.

The city expects to announce by the end of 2017 the first day passengers will be able to ride the Confederation Line.

Photo by City of Ottawa / -

Is the project behind schedule?

Yes and no.

“On any given day, some parts of the project are ahead of schedule, some are on time and some are behind,” Cripps wrote.

But after last June’s sinkhole on Rideau Street threw a wrench into the works, RTG developed a modified construction schedule and has confirmed to the city that it will meet the May 2018 deadline. If that changes, RTG must tell Cripps’ office and he’ll have the unenviable task of advising council.