Ottawa LRT to start late on Aug. 30 due to maintenance as fall schedule begins

Ottawa’s light-rail transit service will have a late start this coming Sunday as OC Transpo launches back-to-school and fall service schedules.

OC Transpo boss John Manconi said Friday morning that due to upcoming maintenance on the Confederation Line LRT, service on the east-west transit line will start at 10 a.m. on Aug. 30.

The city will be surveying the track and overhead catenary system in the preceding hours, work that “must be completed during the day,” Manconi says.

R1 replacement bus service will be available between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations in the interim.

Sunday’s delays account for standard upkeep work, according to the head of Ottawa’s transit agency, while previous service shutdowns this summer have been set aside for Rideau Transit Group (RTG) to catch up on overdue maintenance work before returning to full service levels on LRT this fall.

OC Transpo will also kick off its fall transit schedule on Aug. 30.

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As RTG has delivered the promised 15 double trains and two spares for the first time since the LRT launched roughly a year ago, service on the Confederation Line is now expected to run every three to four minutes during the morning commute under the new schedule.

Several bus schedules will return to regular service levels, including routes serving post-secondary institutions.

The following routes will still see some trips temporarily suspended due to lower ridership levels persisting from the coronavirus pandemic: 6, 7, 10, 12, 18, 25, 39, 40, 44, 61, 63, 66, 75, 87, 88, 93, 99, 111, 179, 234, 235, 236, 256, 257, 270, 272 and 277.

With back-to-school plans still in flux at many boards across Ottawa, OC Transpo is still in the midst of adjusting start and finish times for some of its routes that serve elementary and secondary school students.

The transit agency will also have buses on standby to address possible gaps arising from fluctuating service demands this fall.

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