Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 17 March, 2025

On the 17th of March, a Monday, Transit Committee met for the second meeting of the year. Video link. Meeting begins at 16:50. 

The Stage 2 update presentation begins at timestamp 3:35:30 in the video. 

Introduction

In January, the city disbanded the LRT Subcommittee. Light rail updates, which were previously delivered to the Finances and Corporate Services Committee (FEDCO), have been shifted to Transit Committee. This includes a slideshow and report. 

Be aware, this article will be photos-heavy. 

Money, Money, Money

These numbers are true as of the end of January. 

Since the last update, at the end of October 2024, funds have continued to be spent on the LRT. A few hundred thousand was spent on Stage 1 contingency, with a small portion of funds remaining. 

More impactfully, about $75 million on the DFBOM (design, finance, build, operate, and maintain) of Stage 2 East/West contract has been spent, leaving just $350 million in unspent funds left. The Stage 2 South's DFBM (the above, minus the operate) contract has spent another $35 million as the project reached revenue service. Of the money allocated for vehicle procurement, only $3 million was spent of $65 million remaining in unspent funds. The money for municipal spending was around $10 million, of $35 million in unspent funds. Last, about $20 million in contingency was used, leaving $80 million in contingency funds. 

You can compare the graphs below. 

Stage 2 West

At Westboro station, since the last update in November, the concourse deck slab has been installed, steel has been erected, and work has continued on the exterior of the building. Interior civil, electrical, and mechanical work has begun, as seen in this photo: 

At Kichi Zìbì Station, work is ongoing at the platform level. Exterior work has mostly been completed. 

In the tunnel between Kichi Zìbì and Sherbourne, concrete work was completed last year; tunnel dress-out is the focus. This work includes the rail, the fire suppression system, cables, and lighting. 

At Sherbourne Station, electric and mechanical work is ongoing. There is also construction on both the station's interiors and exterior shell. Work at New Orchard Station is a few months further along, compared to Sherbourne Station, but with similar work ongoing. 

The following photos show work on the building exterior and ceiling panels at platform level. 

Communication device installation is being finalized at Lincoln Fields Station. In addition, testing and commissioning is underway. Construction of the new Lincoln Fields bus loop and some works on Carling will begin this year. Below are the plans for the bus loop, and a photo: 

Work at Iris Station is nearly complete, excepting some communication devices. Some work on Pinecrest Creek, which was diverted to make room for the station, will be concluded this summer. 

At Baseline soon-to-be Algonquin Station, testing and commissioning is nearly complete, including the bus loop structure and bridge to Algonquin College. The new Park-and-Ride and bus loop will begin work this summer. 

At platform level, OCS work has begun and communication devices are being installed. 

OCS work has commenced south of Lincoln Fields towards Algonquin, with some foundations and poles built. This particular photo is south of Iris Station, looking towards Baseline Road. 

On the western branch, the pedestrian bridge's exterior is being completed. Interior work is mostly complete, with finalization of the remaining stuff expected soon. There is also testing and commissioning, and deficiency repair ongoing. In the tunnel east of the station, rail has been installed. 

The traction power substation was set in place earlier this year (ie. 2025), the last of the substations to be installed on the line. 

Construction of the permanent Pinecrest bus loop is expected to begin this summer. In the trench itself, work is continuing on cable trough installation. In the station itself, testing and commissioning is ongoing, as well as communication device installation. 

Bayshore station's elevators are currently being installed. The electrical and mechanical finishes are also underway. The bus loop should begin construction this year. At the exterior level, the pedestrian bridge across the tracks are nearly complete. Photos also show trackwork and OCS progress. 

Finally for the west extension, at Moodie station, installation of communication devices, utility work for the bus loop, and the testing/commissioning is underway. Roadworks on Corkstown and Moodie will continue to "finalize" this year. 

These photos show progress on the OCS east of Bayshore Station. Cable installation began this month on this segment. 

OCS installation at the Corkstown LMSF is complete. The yard's wires will go live in the spring, and train testing can begin after that. 

Last year, three trains were delivered to the site. This allows trains to be tested on the west extension, even before the system is connected to the mainline at Tunney's Pasture and Belfast Yard. 

Next year, work will continue on this segment. Construction endures (heh) on Richmond Road; the OCS work continues; track installation is projected to finish in the summer, and train testing will begin then. 

Traffic impacts will continue into 2025. Notably, the Kichi Zibi Mikan remains as a two-lane roadway. OC Transpo "hopes" to have the four-lane roadway return by the end of the year, but until then, Transitway delays will continue to be a headache. 

Staff presented this timeline of construction timeline on the extension. It seems that the current target for opening is Q3 2027, with handover at the end of 2026 and trial running afterwards. 

Stage 2 East

Timestamp at 3:47:10. 

On Stage 2 East, the big items are currently deficiency work, testing on electrical components (including fare gates and fire alarms), and demonstrations for regulatory authorities (eg. building code). The presentation repeatedly refers to TSSA certificates; this is the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, whose sign-off is required to open an elevator to the public. 

Montreal station currently has 1/4 TSSA certificate. There is asphalt work to be completed soon on Montreal Road between the bridge itself and the WB ramps west of the station, which will include lane closures. 

It is planned to have Jeanne d'Arc Station be the first to undergo a demonstration with Building Code, and receive certification for public use. This demonstration tests components such as the fire alarm, lighting, and emergency power. After this demonstration is complete, the responsibility for them will go to OC Transpo and their Transit Operations Control Centre. 

At this station, 4/4 elevators have TSSA certification. There is work coming in the next few weeks, including asphalt works, landscaping, and line painting. These will be coordinated with the Jeanne d'Arc roundabout project. 

At Convent Glen station, 4/4 elevators have TSSA certification. Work remains to be done on the passenger pickup/drop off locations, bike racks, paint, signs, and other finishings. 

6/6 of the Place d'Orleans elevators have received their TSSA certificates. The escalator has not, with some minor deficiencies that should be fixed in the next few weeks. Work is ongoing at the bus loop and park and ride. 

The Trim park and ride has nearly reached completion. Some work on the finishings has yet to be completed, including sidewalks, painting, and landscaping. The bus loop itself is complete with only landscaping work remaining. 

4/4 elevators and 2/2 escalators at Trim station have TSSA certificates. 

Work remains to be done this year. Among these items, include train and operator testing, station occupancies and permitting, and the active transportation (pathways) along the 174. 

As the line runs along the 174, road closures will continue. You can them below: 

Handover is now anticipated in Q3 of this year, with trial running continuing after. This puts us somewhere in a Q4 2025-Q1 2026 opening date, depending on how things turn out generally. 

The pathway to revenue service remains long, with work needed before substantial completion and trial running can begin. Currently, the line is being tested, commissioned, and integrated with the currently-operating Line 1. Systems integration is time consuming and challenging, so substantial completion may take a long time; it is shown as one or two quarters above, but I would not be surprised to see trial running in Q4 2025. In response to a question from Jeff Leiper, staff confirmed that trial running will be the line's full length between Tunney's Pasture and Trim. 

The city says that the pre-trial running takes "5-10 days," trial running "at least" 21 days, and safety approvals "at least" 10 days. Given the ten week lag between trial running and revenue service, I would not be surprised for this process to take a quarter, or even two. 

There will be a technical briefing "in the coming months" on this pathway to opening. 

The LRV Fleet

The fleet is currently being built for OC Transpo. These will be more Alstom Citadis trains. Currently, twenty have been accepted, five are being inspected, four are being tested, three are being built, and six have yet to be built, for a total of thirty-eight vehicles. 

As a reminder, Stage 1 had thirty-four vehicles total. 

Stage 2 South

The city is working with TNext on the remaining minor works, including minor deficiencies, the passenger information systems, landscaping, and the locomotive voice/video recorder. 

Transit Services will also continue work on a retrofit of a switch component (the "frog") in the rail trench north of Dow's Lake, and the installation of a bearing monitoring system. 

The city is installing a new system to reduce the volume of the train's bells.