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There was one upgrade - the continious welded rail that allows the O-Train to have 15 minute headways instead of 20 minutes, and somewhat faster service. Wasn't this done about 2 years in?
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Sound barriers between Confederation and Greenboro where also added. As with the continuous welded rail these were done about 1 1/2 years into the project. But they were done not as a planned upgrade but rather because they were required to deal with residents concerns over noise and to be able to meet the 15 minute headway originally planned and were being dealt with almost immediately after the O-Train had opened.

As far as planned, post pilot project upgrades are concerned nothing has been done.
 
I don't want to keep trashing this plan but there is another problem that might actually be the largest issue of all with the plan. Part of it also has to do with the fact that information about LRT and rail transit surrounding the debate has been so mediocre.

One thing to keep in mind is that while the current O-Train is refered too as light rail, it is not. The Talents that they use are the same ones used on regional rail systems in Europe. That is, they are approved to operate on heavy rail lines mixed in with larger passenger and freight traffic. So the O-Train should not be called light rail, and I am sure the fact that when people hear LRT they, rather logically think of the O-Train instead of smaller vehicles like you see in Calgary or Amsterdam has been an important contributor to the confusion on the discussion.

That leads into another problem with the task force report. The system they are proposing is based on using vehicles be it more Talents or other similair vehicles in that class. This would be a requirement given that much of the system is based on using on existing track that has passenger and freight rail operating on it. So what they are proposing is not LRT, it is regional rail.

That would not be a bad thing necessarily if they understood that fact and developed the system as such. But it is obvious that even they don't quite understand all the details. The easiest way to see this is the downtown portion of the system. From Bayview to VIA the train would make 11 stops over a distance of roughly 11 or 12 km which means a stop every kilometer. This makes sense since these are the number of stops that are needed to most efficienctly serve and distribute riders through this part of the city. But the problem is that are not using agile LRT vehicles which would be suited for efficiently and quickly serving these stops. They are using vehicles that are designed for regional rail purposes, stops that are going to be 3 - 5 km apart, perhaps further. So as soon as the trains enter downtown, they are going to become very inefficient since they do not have the acceleration to serve these distances. You can easily see this on the current O-Train line were the stops are about 2 km apart and the trains design speeds are totally underutilized.

Of course there are two ways to fix the problem. Remove the stops to make the use of Talents (or other commuter class vehicles) more efficient. Obviously that would make the system very undesireable so that is not an option. Or you use more nimble LRT vehicles meant to handle stops roughly every 1km or less. But you can't do that since outside of the downtown area much of the system is based on using existing freight and passenger track and LRT vehicles would never be approved to operate in that kind of mixed traffic (even in Europe that is not done, though I am sure some small exceptions do exist for rather specific reasons).

It is actually really amazing what a poor plan this is. I can only imagine the fun that Siemens or consulting firms or any other professionals who are writing up comments on this plan must be having.

Edit: I would also add that this fact should have been known had they done even basic research. If you go to the Transport Canada O-Train Case Study webpage, even in what is a brief summary of the project they state

"The Bombardier trains were better suited for long distance commuter service.....Several requirements including turning radius for inner city use, platform height, train acceleration and vibration would be problematic for downtown service."

So it is not as if it would have required a consultant or expert to let them in on that little fact, it is rather obvious. I am sure the reports published on the LRT that was cancelled also say the same thing too.
 
Looking at the maps on the Moving-Ottawa website, it looks pretty comprehensive. I love the old rail station. To have it used for transportation is great!
 
A bit of news on the foolishness in Ottawa. The task force recommendations have been approved (you can see the full text here).

About the only notable things are the recommendation to start an EA on a downtown tunnel, which is a positive step. And they also refer to the task force plan as a 'GO Train service' which is also important since it at least properly defines it as what it is. Actually the city seems to want to have any regional service branded as GO transit so that could also be interesting to see (more interesting would be what would happen if trains ran across the river into Gatineau, though that is highly unlikely so not really much of a concern).

It will be interesting to see what happens to this mess of plans once professionals take over. Maybe something good could come of it. Maybe.
 
A bit of news on the transit front in Ottawa. Sorry I don't have a direct link to the article but here is what was sent to me.

City takes first step in tunnel project

Engineering firm assembling team to study proposed downtown light rail project

By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media

The city has hired an engineering firm to begin working out the best route for a downtown light rail tunnel.

Delcan Corporation, an engineering, management and technology consulting firm, will immediately begin assembling a team of engineers, planners, architects and other specialists to work on the project, a part of the City of Ottawa's new long-term transit plan. Included in the team of experts will be Halcrow Group, a firm based in London, England.

Nancy Schepers, the deputy city manager for planning, transit and the environment, said in a memo today that Halcrow has worked on similar projects in Britain, Scotland, Portugal, Italy, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Halcrow will be the tunnel planning and design experts for the project.

Schepers said the city's rapid bus transitway network has reached capacity.

"Without a tunnel, it is estimated that by 2031 we will require a total of 340 OC Transpo buses and 250 STO buses per hour, per direction during peak hours to accommodate ridership demand," Schepers said. "That translates into an articulated bus every 14 seconds through the core. As the downtown cannot handle this volume with continued on-street transit service, a grade separated tunnel to accommodate part or all transit service is required ..."

The Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel (DOTT) study will consider main routes through the downtown, the role of Bayview and Hurdman OC Transpo stations as potential interim transfer points, opportunities for interprovincial linkages with the Outaouais and a potential connection to the Via Rail station.

The study is expected to take 20 months to complete.
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It is good to see this project moving ahead. It may take a few extra years compared to the original LRT plan but at least this one actually makes sense and is an investment that will take the city well into the future. And just as I thought would happen, friends of the O-Train have disappeared, along with their silly ideas. The only issue I have found yet to be addressed is bringing VIA (or HS service in the future) back into the downtown core, but it has been mentioned a few times and if there was a time to at least push for future consideration for accommodation, it would be now.
 
At least they haven't given up. I like the idea of GO Transit serving Ottawa. There's no reason for them not to. Theoretically they should provide regional service to any part of Ontario that needs it.
 
Another 20 month study - hardly moving that far forward. At the rate they are going, we'll have all of Transit City built, SRT extensions, new GO lines, YUS extensions, and will be constructing the downtown relief subway line before they actually do something real there.
 
^It might not be moving at lightning speed but it is a drastic improvement over the last plan and 20 months is not a long time considering the scope of putting a tunnel through downtown Ottawa. And much of the planning that has already taken place for an LRT line to Barrhaven is still relevant so building a line from Bayview out to that area could commence at any time. I am also guessing it will be less than a year for EA's for a line to Kanata and one out to Orleans given the momentum for LRT support from the public and the city.

GO service on a more regional scale seems to be put to the side at the moment but at least there is a general recognition that this is something that should be pursued in the medium term when it comes to serving places like Smith Falls (a dying industrial town soon to be turned commuter village), Carleton Place, etc.
 
If after 20 months the whole thing was over and they start constructing, great. They way things have been going I somehow don't think this is the end of it. They've been talking about this tunnel for a quarter-century or so now.

It's like their new bridges between Ottawa and Gatineau ...
 
nfitz said:
If after 20 months the whole thing was over and they start constructing, great. They way things have been going I somehow don't think this is the end of it. They've been talking about this tunnel for a quarter-century or so now.
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So they still have about 25 more years of discussion ahead before they build their Yonge Subway line?

Nearly every city in Ontario spends a couple of decades discussing a piece of major infrastructure before building a piece of major infrastructure. Incidentally, I'm strongly in favour of this. Ontario hasn't built very much "disposable" infrastructure or infrastructure we regret spending the money on. Most things are well used -- though perhaps not as efficient as they could be if completed using todays knowledge.
 
If after 20 months the whole thing was over and they start constructing, great. They way things have been going I somehow don't think this is the end of it. They've been talking about this tunnel for a quarter-century or so now.
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Except that before they could always opt of a tunnel in favour of the cheaper busway solution. Now they have no choice. There is no more room on the downtown streets for buses so they either have to do something or watch traffic and transit service be crippled. Rising gas prices are also helping and putting transit projects on the list of priorities of many more citizens and pushing the debate beyond the small circle or transit geeks that have been the only group of people to care about the issue for many years, until now.

Edit: Any article I have read today states that this is an environmental assessment that they are undertaking. So at the the end of this 20 months they will have all the design completed and consultations that will allow it to be built at any point after. A link to The Ottawa Citizen article from today.
 
LRT/Tunnel Plan: Open House 3

Here's the display boards, information, and video from the latest open house. Be sure to view the PDFs for pictures/diagrams etc.
http://ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/transit_tunnel/op_3/index_en.html

The recommended plan shows each section of the plan (use the sidebar on the left) http://ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/transit_tunnel/op_3/recommended_plan/index_en.html

costs http://ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/transit_tunnel/op_3/costs_35.pdf

the "friends" of the o-train are against the new plan too.... they also still believe this plan and the NS Line were designed to be overpriced failures by pro-BRT consultants .
 
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