Ottawa’s LRT Stage 2 Confederation Line selects Thales for CBTC

The Stage 2 Confederation Line extension will expand the initial 13 station Stage 1 Confederation Line farther east and west. The Stage 2 Confederation Line will extend east to Trim Road and west to Baseline Road and Moodie Drive, adding 28km of rail, 16 stations and a maintenance and storage facility. Following completion of the Stage 2 extension, the Confederation Line will consist of 29 stations spanning a distance of 40km providing more Ottawa residents with fast, efficient, clean and reliable light rail service. 

Thales’s contribution to the Stage 2 O-Train extension project consists of integrating control units on-board each train, the installation of guideway equipment, including zone controllers, as well as commissioning the system to be safely integrated within Stage 1 operations. 

Thales’s SelTrac™ Communications Based Train Control system is used on the O-Train’s Stage 1 transportation solution, which is designed to meet Ottawa’s transit challenges with a system that integrates surrounding communities with existing cycling and pedestrian paths and roadways. It is this familiarity with the O-Train system, its operation and technology, and in particular the Light Rail Vehicles being used, that Thales considers minimises integration risks and commissioning time in the Stage 2 extension. 

“The Stage 2 O-Train Confederation Line Extension project allows Thales to continue to play an important role in providing a world-class transit system to Canada’s national capital,” commented Dominique Gaiardo, Vice President and Managing Director for Thales’s urban rail signalling business. 

“Continuing our work from Stage 1, our local, made-in-Ontario SelTrac™ CBTC technology is a key part of the O-Train system, bringing to life the next important phase of Ottawa’s long-term transit vision, providing passengers a faster, safer and greener way to commute.”

Stage 2 LRT

Stage 2 LRT is a transformative project that will expand the O-Train by 44 kilometres to the south, east and west, and add 24 new stations. The expansions are expected to be completed in 2022, 2024 and 2025 respectively.

On 6 March 2019, Ottawa City Council approved EWC to design, build and finance the Stage 2 Confederation Line East and West extensions and TransitNEXT to design, build, finance and maintain the Stage 2 Trillium Line South extension.

When complete, Stage 2 will bring 77 per cent of Ottawa residents within five kilometres of fast, efficient, clean and reliable rail. The Stage 2 O-Train network will result in a fully grade-separated system that spans nearly 64 kilometres to include 41 stations, 85 vehicles and three maintenance and storage facilities. The total project cost is expected at $4.6 billion.