Construction begins on Confederation Line maintenance facility

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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In Ottawa, ON, Canada, pre-construction work began on the Confederation Line Light Rail project, with the city of Ottawa officially handing over the site of the future maintenance and storage facility, a 16-hectare (40-acre) site on Belfast Road, to the Rideau Transit Group.

“Today is an exciting milestone for the Confederation Line project. This site currently houses aging storage structures but will soon be replaced with a state-of-the-art facility that will host the assembly, maintenance and operations of our new Confederation Line trains,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. “Today is the start of the most important construction effort in our city’s history. The pace of activity surrounding the Confederation Line project is increasing with construction sites across the city beginning over the coming months.”

As part of its winning proposal, the Rideau Transit Group will build a world-class Centre of Excellence for vehicle assembly, maintenance and operations, which will generate 100 jobs during the construction period. Once in service, it will employ 50 permanent skilled trade workers and professionals.

The first steps at the new site will be to demolish and recycle materials from the existing buildings wherever possible. Work will then begin to build the base for the new maintenance yard and train yard.

The maintenance and storage facility is expected to be complete by 2015. Operational testing will commence in 2017 and full service will occur in spring 2018.

Funding for the Confederation Line is being provided by the government of Canada, the government of Ontario and the city of Ottawa. The government of Canada is contributing CA$600 million (US$585 million) through the Building Canada Fund. The city will also allocate up to CA$161.5 million (US$157 million) of its federal Gas Tax Fund transfers to this project. The government of Ontario is contributing up to CA$600 million (US$585 million). In addition, the city will allocate CA$287 million (US$280 million) of Provincial Gas Tax funding to the capital infrastructure. The remaining project budget funds will come from development charge revenues and transit reserves.

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