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If you’re hoping to ride the O-Train all the way to Trim Road in Ottawa’s east end, don’t hop aboard just yet — even if you see signs at LRT stations that seem to indicate it will take you there.
OC Transpo has been installing the new signage in anticipation of the opening of the eastern LRT extension to Orléans, which will add five stations to the existing Line 1.
But some riders say the signs can be misleading.
“I found it a little confusing at first, just with the whole [line] not opening up entirely yet but still labelling everything,” said Wesley Billman, who rides Line 1 frequently with his friends.
Beth Thompson said she began noticing the signs in April, but only recently thought to ask an OC Transpo employee about them.
“I asked him if he knew when it was going to be open further in the east end, but he wasn’t sure,” she said.
In early June, OC Transpo posted a TikTok video to the song Changes by David Bowie. It shows workers replacing old signs that list only the stops between Tunny’s Pasture and Blair stations.
In a statement attributed to Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo’s director of transit customer systems and planning, he said the new signs are being installed now “to support the future opening of the East Extension and includes important wayfinding improvements that will benefit customers once service begins to Trim Station.”
The scope of the work is “extensive,” according to the statement, including hundreds of maps, directional signs and other identifiers across the LRT system.
WATCH | Early signs for future extension:
Some say new LRT signs directing riders to unopened station are misleading
In preparation for the opening of the LRT’s eastern expansion, OC Transpo has installed signs encouraging riders to take the line all the way to Trim station, which isn’t open yet — and there’s no set date for its debut.
Scrimgeour said OC Transpo applied lessons learned during the implementation of sweeping changes to its bus system earlier this year, when new signs were installed early and covered with plastic bags until the launch.
“Rather than covering large numbers of signs and then uncovering them later, we have chosen an approach that minimizes the amount of temporary work required while allowing staff to focus on preparing the extension for service,” he told CBC.
Scrimgeour said OC Transpo is aware that some customers may notice the Trim station signs before the extension opens, but noted there’s plenty of real-time information available to “reflect the current operating Line 1 service to Blair Station.”
Before the eastern extension to Trim Road can open, OC Transpo must conduct a formal three-week test run. The trial has been complicated by an ongoing problem with the trains’ wheel assemblies.
