By Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, July 12, 2017
In the latest twist in light rail expansion, the city has agreed to bring the train just a bit closer to Riverside South.
That’s a small improvement for residents, but the city’s Trillium Line extension still falls well short of its logical destination, uses diesel technology that is out of synch with the rest of the system, will require a transfer where it meets the main line, costs $535 million and will serve relatively few additional passengers.
One has to wonder why the extension of the old O-Train line is worth doing at all.
Riverside South was planned as a rail-transit suburb, a forward-looking idea. The city planned to send rail into the so-called town centre to spur commercial and residential growth. That plan was abandoned in 2006 after councillors finally figured out that serving the small suburb shouldn’t be their top rail priority.
http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/denley-is-extending-the-o-train-line-even-worth-it