First LRT train will take to tunnel ‘in next little while’
Challenge of automation system looms, transportation boss says
John Manconi, the city’s general manager of transportation, isn’t stressed about LRT stations, tracks and vehicles being constructed by the fall. His focus is on making sure computers can operate a train 12.5 kilometres across the city without a hitch.
Confirming that the train automation works will be a major milestone for the city, but it’s one Manconi says he worries the most about, since there’s complex technology involved. The “communications-based train control” system is being supplied by Thales Canada. When there are three trains running in automated mode on the eastern portion of the LRT line, there will be high-fives in the corner offices of city hall.
“I’m not worried about the civil (works),” Manconi told the finance and economic development committee on Tuesday.
“I’m worried about the testing and commissioning and all those sub-systems talking to each other.”
The committee, which meets monthly, is receiving updates on the $2.1-billion Confederation Line until the LRT system opens.
The signal systems along the track need to be talking with onboard computers and the control room. Those tests have been going well, Manconi said.
The next milestone is running the trains in fully automated mode.
When the Confederation Line opens in November, there will be one operator in the cab of the train making sure the system is operating properly, but the trains will otherwise be running on their own.
The onboard computer can be switched to manual mode, but most of the time it will be operating in automated mode.
Another huge milestone will be running a train through the 2.5-kilometre tunnel. According to Manconi, “within the next little while” workers will push a train on the tracks in the tunnel since the westbound tracks are done.
About 50 per cent of the eastbound track still needs to be installed. Trains have only run between Blair and uOttawa stations, so the city is eager to get a train on the western portion of the LRT line to test infrastructure through to Tunney’s Pasture.
Substantial completion of the LRT line is expected in late summer. The Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has committed to deliver the LRT system to the city by Nov. 2. The city anticipates welcoming passengers by the end of that month.
“We’re actively monitoring (RTG’s) schedule, both from a paper process and also in the field, and the confidence level will grow as we see major milestones being achieved,” Manconi said.
The gussying-up of Queen Street is expected to be done by late summer or early fall, in time for the LRT’s opening day.
The street is being transformed into a “showcase” street since it will be used heavily by pedestrians accessing LRT stations.
The city and RTG are still in talks over the city’s extra costs attributed to the delay — the Confederation Line was originally scheduled to open in mid-2018 — and the impact of the sinkhole on Rideau Street in June 2016.