Students at Carleton University are expressing frustration after learning the O-Train's Trillium line will be shut down at least one year longer than anticipated for the expansion of Ottawa's light rail network.

The lengthier-than-expected shutdown was detailed in Friday's technical briefing for Phase 2 of LRT, in which city officials announced the bidders chosen to work on the massive infrastructure project.

Originally, the Trillium line was going to be taken offline from May 2020 to September 2021 — a total of 16 months. Now, the shutdown and resulting bus detours will last until at least September 2022.

"The new schedule is [that the] Trillium line will open for service in 2022. The Confederation line east extension will open for service in 2024, and the west extension will open for service in 2025," said Chris Swail, director of Stage 2 LRT planning Friday.

"[The trains on the Trillum line] will be off from May 2020 until students go back to school in September 2022."

While the Trillium line is down, there will be improvements to bus service on the campus, Swail said.

A northbound queue jump lane on Bronson Avenue at Holmwood Avenue will be constructed to provide buses with the ability to bypass the long queues at the Holmwood signal, particularly in the morning peak hours, he said.

Those will include a new, bus-only entrance from Bronson Avenue onto Raven Road, along with other measures to improve trip times for students.

The O-Train provides service to Carleton University from transit stations at Bayview in Lebreton Flats and Greenboro in South Keys, with additional stops at Carling and Confederation Heights.

According to documents from the briefing, the construction of stations and systems on the existing portion of the line will not commence in earnest until the line shuts down, in order to avoid disruptions associated with working near an operating railway.

During the shutdown, OC Transpo's R2 replacement bus route will have increased service to provide similar capacity to the Trillium Line, said a statement from Swail.

Students on campus at Carleton Saturday, however, shared their disappointment with the news of the forthcoming service suspension.

Some of their answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Nicole Vanderveen, takes the O-Train once or twice a week

I think that that causes a lot of challenges for a lot of students living particularly in residence here at Carleton University. Because we depend on that access to this train a lot to get to Greenboro so we can get to Walmart, Loblaws and all other stores like that.

It hurts that other students won't have the opportunity ... I find that there are a lot of stores and commodities there that students need.

Anissa Alami

I think it's also inconvenient for the people living by Bayview because they rely on the train to get to campus. So I don't know what the school or even the city [will try] to do to accommodate for that loss.

Alina Lebron, left

We're seniors in high school now. We're going to start university [this fall] and knowing that that's not going to be an opportunity [in a few years], it makes me really upset.

Getting to school was just a matter of a five minute bus ride and then a quick O-Train ride here ... on the bus we'll have to stand like sardines.

The O-Train was the only thing making me feel like I was getting my money's worth ... So I now know that I'll probably be missing classes or be late to classes due to transportation. So I'm kind of disappointed, to be honest.

Meral Aduli, right

I think OC [Transpo] has let us down a lot, to be honest.

I live pretty far. There's no buses from Barrhaven that come all the way here.

To come here normally, I would just take a bus [to] South Keys or something or Greenboro station and then take the O-Train here. And that would cut my time by an hour-and-a-half. And then, if they close it … my whole life is going to be on the bus.

Natasha Maltais, takes the train every day

I definitely think it's ridiculous. I mean, a lot of people rely on this form of transportation to get places.

The bus system is not the greatest here, and just thinking about how many more people are going to be affected by this — and how many more people are going to be relying on the buses — is ... worrisome. Like, I just know how bad that's going to affect so many things.

I live on campus right now, so it's how I go get my groceries. I don't have a car here or anything, and like I said, I find the buses so unreliable. So I use the train as much as I can.

I'm in my masters and I'm planning on doing more graduate studies, so I'm definitely going to be here [when it shuts down].

Alexandra Valeriote

The bus system is definitely unreliable, and I use the train multiple times a week, especially for groceries and going to do errands. So if I was here that would definitely affect me in a negative, negative way.