Light-Rail gets $1 Billion Boost from Feds

The existing O-Train passes over the Rideau River. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

In a letter to Mayor Jim Watson dated July 22, Orléans MP Royal Galipeau announced his party’s intention to give $1 billion to support Stage 2 of Ottawa’s light-rail plans.

That money will make up one third of the project’s projected $3 billion price tag.

“Our intent to contribute to Stage 2 reflects our understanding that Canada’s largest cities depend on public transit infrastructure to fight gridlock, reduce congestion for people and businesses, and support economic development,” Galipeau said in his letter.

This money is dependant on the city completing a formal application to the Conservative’s Public Transit Fund. The transit fund has previously contributed to the Spadina Subway Extension project in Toronto and the Evergreen Line in Vancouver. The city will also need to release a more detailed plan of the project to receive funding.

Stage 2 of the LRT will reach from Bayshore to Place d’Orleans, and stretch as far south as Riverside South. The project will add 30 new kilometres of track and 19 new stations to the transit system.

Construction on Stage 2 is set to begin in 2018, after Stage 1 is finished. The projected completion date is 2023.