OC Transpo officials have moderated expectations as to when the next phase of Ottawa's light rail system will be ready. It has long been expected that the North-South line will open sometime this year.

OC Transpo CEO René Amilcar explained at a meeting of the light rail subcommittee that the exact date would be announced in September. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of what happened with the first leg, officials are taking great care and insisting that trains will only run once they are ready.

It is also confirmed that the parallel bus service next to line 2 will continue to operate until April 2024.

As for the work that remains to be done, there is one more track to be laid.

"This last small segment is a few hundred meters of track on Hunt Club Road that needs to be completed," explained Michael Morgan, the city's director of rail construction.

“Recently, we saw a train go to Airport Station, which was very interesting, we saw a train go to Limebank Station, so to complete the line, we need to stretch it to Bayview,” Morgan said. “It's not just a train to Bayview, it's a set of trains to Bayview where we can then start training and say the system is now ready enough to have trains running back and forth and demonstrating in August. and in September — the reliability of the system.”