Trillium Line begins final 21-day testing phase

Trial running begins today on the Trillium Line, one of the final steps before Ottawa’s new north-south line opens to the public. “This is TransitNEXT’s final exam, and it will be a rigorous one,” Renee Amilcar, Transit Services general manager, told councillors and the media last Thursday.

Trial running begins today on the Trillium Line, one of the final steps before Ottawa’s new north-south line opens to the public.

“This is TransitNEXT’s final exam, and it will be a rigorous one,” Renee Amilcar, Transit Services general manager, told councillors and the media last Thursday.

The 21-day trial running period includes a 14-day reliability testing period that begins today, which simulates the conditions of normal passenger service, followed by a seven-day second phase that looks at daily operational and maintenance scenario evaluations.

Ottawa's director of rail construction says this is a big moment for residents living in Ottawa's south end and students at Carleton University who will use the Trillium Line.

"I think it will be a big sigh of relief for all those people once we go into service in a few weeks," Richard Holder told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal.

"But, certainly for the city team there's been a lot of hours and a lot of work to get us to where we are today so we're very excited and very happy to be starting the trial running."

During the 14-day reliability testing, OC Transpo and TransitNEXT will aim to achieve a 98.5 per cent average for on-time departures.