Feds pledge $1B to expand Ottawa LRT

The federal government will cover up to $1 billion of the estimated $3 billion price tag for the second phase of Ottawa’s light rail transit project.

The official announcement  was made yesterday at the Bayview O-Train station by Ottawa-Orléans MP Royal Galipeau, flanked by Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre and city councillors.

The second phase of Ottawa’s transit expansion plan calls for extensions to the Confederation Line West from Baseline and Bayshore to Tunney’s Pasture, the Confederation Line East from Blair to Place d’Orléans, and the Trillium Line Bowesville/Riverside South. When completed in 2023, Stage 2 will add 19 new stations and 30 kilometres of rail to Ottawa’s O-Train system, and bring LRT to within five kilometres of almost 70 per cent of the city’s residents.

The provincial government is reviewing the city’s funding request for the LRT project.