With the launch of the new O-Train lines 2 and 4 south extension on Monday, OC Transpo is on its way to earning back the trust of its passengers, says general manager Renee Amilcar.
The O-Train welcomed passengers for the morning commute for the first time in about five years.
The south extension, also known as the Trillium Line, has opened for public use as part of a phased opening approach and provided rail service from Bayview to Limebank stations, and South Keys to Airport Stations on Monday.
At a virtual media availability Tuesday, Amilcar said it is “too soon to tell” if the train is on track for the phased opening, but that “we’re very happy with what we see.”
“We know we will have some issues, so we will continue to monitor,” she said in response to a question from Ottawa Compass. “We will keep you posted.”
The O-Train is already being tested with winter weather conditions, launching with sub-zero temperatures this week. Ice and snow have been detrimental to operations of the Confederation Line LRT in the past, but Amilcar and Troy Charter, director of Transit Service Delivery and Rail Operations, said they’re implementing “lessons learned” for the Trillium Line.
“Winter does pose some additional challenges, whether for trains or buses… But we have robust plans in place,” said Charter. “A lot of efforts have been taken to improve resiliency on the Confederation Line… We’ve applied those lessons learned on lines 2 and 4.
Amilcar said OC Transpo will continue to share the O-Train’s progress with customers, and that open communication and “transparency” is the best hope to rebuilding trust with the public.
“I hope you have seen a lot of new ways to do things. We share a lot of information, we are an open book frankly, and we want to do that because we want customers to be engaged with us and to know what we’re doing,” said Amilcar. “We want to be very frank, and the reliability for sure will bring people back.
“But it was more than reliability… I’ve worked in Montreal, and this was the first time I’ve shared information like this, but I felt we must do it because of the past experiences,” she continued. “So far, hopefully, people are starting to see that we want to do things differently to make sure trust will come back, and I’m certain it’s only by delivering a good service that that will happen.
“We have set excellent targets… We could have set moderate targets, but we need the best, so we have a plan, and we will continue to share it.”
