The group behind the construction of Ottawa’s Confederation Line will miss another deadline, as a memo sent to city council on Friday says the 12 days of required testing for the LRT system are “ongoing.”
Friday was the most recent deadline to hand over a system that is almost 500 days late. It also marks the fourth deadline to be missed by the Rideau Transit Group (RTG). This missed date means the city will withhold an additional $1 million as a penalty.
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In order to pass the trial run, the Confederation Line has to mimic the system’s entire service for 12 consecutive days without a major hitch. OC Transpo general manager John Manconi previously explained that if a serious problem occurs during the testing, RTG has restart the trial run.
In the memo sent on Friday, Manconi says that regardless of the missed deadline, RTG has made significant progress in its Confederation Line testing, and he is confident the system will still open in the fall.
“This is a complex and rigorous process where high performance standards must be met as a prerequisite to achieving RSA (revenue service availability) and opening the Confederation Line to the public,” wrote Manconi. “As previously communicated, the city expects to open the Confederation Line to the public in September.”
According to Manconi, the mayor, transit chair Coun. Allan Hubley and city staff will hold a briefing to provide further updates on the progress of the testing.