Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 12 June, 2025

Introduction

This is the second part to my update on the Transit Committee meeting on 12 June, focusing on Stage 2 updates. The first part, covering everything else, can be found here. 

The relevant documents are a report to city council at this link and a motion here. 

Stage 2 South

Timestamp at 4:16:15. 

OC Transpo is collaborating with TNext to sort out final works on Line 2/4. This includes minor deficiencies (the presentation noted the MUP from Leitrim to South Keys), landscaping, locomotive voice and video recorders, and various passenger information systems. 

Transit Services is working on the frog at Beech Street (which was an issue noted in March) and on the installation of bearing condition monitors, the latter of which is expected to be completed in Q4. 

Stage 2 East/West

The entirety of track for Stage 2 East/West was installed in May, meaning that all of the rail is now laid. Final trackwork, including surfacing, destressing, and ballast dressing continues. OCS installation (the wires that supply electricity to the train) is ongoing. They are conducting wire pulling between Pinecrest and Moodie; and cantilever installation between Lincoln Fields and Baseline. 

At Westboro station, the canopy steel, concourse glazing, and roof waterproofing is complete. Current work is focused on drywall installation, ceiling framing, and stairwell waterproofing.  

Notably, the last piece of track installed was near Westboro. 

At Kichi Zibi Station, roofing, ceiling installation, and parapet/soffit framing are ongoing. Mechanical and electrical installation work is also occurring at the same time. 

On the Kichi Zibi Mikan itself, work on the (terrible) permanent parkway design is ongoing. Traffic was shifted between Westboro Beach and the future Cleary underpass to advance construction. 

At the Cleary underpass, the culvert structure has been installed, so current work is focused on barrier installation and "final touches". 

Inside the tunnel itself, track and dry fire line installation has been completed. Currently, construction focus has shifted to permanent light installation, cable pulling, and installing the brackets for the OCS. 

Boarding installation, concourse cladding, and ceiling installation is happening at Sherbourne Station. At New Orchard, work is progressing on electrical and mechanical installation, as well as cladding and framing. 

On Richmond Road, according to staff, the road has been realigned to its final arrangement between McEwen and Richardson. Further east, installation of a sanitary sewer will require the closure of Woodroffe Avenue for the summer. Next year, work will focus on Richmond and Byron Road; finally, in 2027, landscaping work will commence on the linear park. 

North of Lincoln Fields, trackwork and installation of the OCS is still ongoing. 

At Lincoln Fields Station, construction of the future bus loop has begun. Work at Lincoln Fields is relatively advanced, being the first station on Stage 2 West to receive its fare gates. Construction of the platform top slab is now ongoing.  

At Iris Station, exterior work includes grading of the surrounding MUPs. Inside the station, testing and commissioning is ongoing, as is deficiency closeout and signage installation, while installation of ticket vending machines and fare gates will happen "soon". 

At Algonquin, construction of the pedestrian connection to Algonquin College continues. This includes glazing and tie-in works to the college. The park and ride and future bus loop are also progressing. In the actual station, ceiling installation and electric and mechanical works are ongoing. Staff said this was the second most advanced station on Stage 2 West. 

At the third most advanced station on Stage 2 West, Queensview station, ceiling installation on the pedestrian bridge is ongoing and flashing installation is "nearly complete." Interior works, such as electric, mechanical, and testing/commissioning is also progressing. 

At Pinecrest Station, work on the permanent NB->WB ramp is ongoing. Work is also being completed on the bus loop. For the interior of the station, final deficiency work is progressing, as is wayfinding installation and station building commissioning. 

Tangent: OCS installation has been completed between the Moodie LMSF and Bayshore station, with further work continuing eastwards. 

At Bayshore Station, mechanical and electric work on the pedestrian tunnel and elevator work is ongoing. Bus loop construction will commence soon, with preparations ongoing right now. 

Finally, at Moodie station mechanical and electric finishing work, as well as elevator adjustments, is underway. Deficiency rectification is ongoing and bus loop construction has begun. 

At the Moodie LMSF, safety preparations are underway to energize (ie. turn on) the power supply for trains. Some trains have been sent here to go early testing - this means we could see trains running at Moodie station very soon. 

Looking ahead on the Stage 2 West extension, train testing will begin from Moodie shortly. OCS installation, tunnel work (including cable pulling and ventilation installation), and surface roadwork are all ongoing. You can see them in the slide below: 

There are also some traffic impacts on the 417 and elsewhere. Slides below. 

There was an updated timeline for this extension, which is posted below. Work on the system will continue until the end of 2026, at which point handover to the city will occur, with trial running happened in late 2026 or early 2027, for what seems to be a targeted Q1/Q2 2027 opening date. 

Compared to March's update, work at the Moodie LMSF has been pushed back one quarter. 

Stage 2 East

Staff said that we "have very good work on deficiencies" on Stage 2 East, citing ballast adjustment and signage correction. Train testing is well underway, and operator training is expected to begin this summer. 

Outdoor work like landscaping and paving is ongoing, taking advantage of the summer weather. Physical station construction is "largely" complete and most work has got to do with systems now. 

Since March, communications testing has continued, while certification for the elevators have all been received, and escalators and ticket vending machines are being installed. 

The contractor is working to obtain occupancy permits, fire safety permits, and final approvals. 

At Montreal Station, final works and deficiency closure has begun. The 174 westbound lanes have reached their final configuration, with some paving work still to come. 

Paving work is underway at Jeanne d'Arc station. Civil works are mostly complete, with the next priority being the roundabout north of the station. Interior works have mostly been completed as well. 

At Convent Glen, focus is on deficiency closeout. Civil work around the power substation is underway as well. The concrete work is close to complete here. 

Concrete flatwork is also underway at Place d'Orleans, particularly on the southern entrance. Bus loop paving was to begin last month, though I do not know what the status of that is, one month out. 

At the last Stage 2 East station, Trim, park and ride works and sidewalk construction is nearing completion. Some work continues on the roundabouts near the station. Paving is in place and landscaping work is ongoing. 

Looking ahead at Stage 2 East works, much of the remaining work is on landscaping, other roadways and pathways, and on train testing and commissioning.  

There are, of course, car impacts. See them on the slides below. 

Looking at the Gantt chart, systems installation has mostly finished. The timeline for this and commissioning has been pushed back one quarter, as has the trial running estimate. Hopefully, we will be riding this extension before the end of the year; however, I have heard rumours of another January opening. 

Miscellaneous

You can see the delivery schedule of the Stage 2 trains below. 

Staff also talked about migration to the production environment. 

Of the ten-ish head-end systems, they all needed to be migrated from their quarantined test environment to the in-use systems that are already in use for Stage 1. The systems are currently being migrated, which means that there are some impacts to Line 1 service. This phase is critical to be able to operate the line as, well, a single line. 

There are five "gates" required to migrate the systems over, of which we have left the second as of writing and are entering the third. You can see all of them below. 

All of this comes ahead of the move towards opening the line ("passenger service"). Note that the minimum times are not necessarily what will actually occur; the time from trial running to service was, on Stage 2, around three months. Ahead of us are the substantial completion of the line, trial running, and safety approvals before the line can open to passengers. 

In response to a question from Wilson Lo, staff said they have not yet finalized service details for branching and short turns with Stage 2 West, and that ridership levels could change between now and 2027. 

A motion from David Hill was introduced and voted on. In essence, it asks staff to provide information on RTG's studies related to speed and lateral loads on Line 1 with respect to the TSRs (temporary speed restrictions). This motion was carried. 

Funds and Figures 

This information is true as of the end of April. 

The city has spent a routine $100 million on Stage 2 since the end of January. Meanwhile, contingency funds on Stage 1 are drawing down, slooooowly. See the chart below and the January chart for details.