Light-rail costs mounting

Light-rail costs mounting
Jake Rupert, Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Without putting a shovel in the ground, Ottawa's
proposed north-south light-rail line is well over
budget. Just how much, however, depends on who is
doing the math.

City staff leading the project say, if approved, the
Rideau Centre to Barrhaven line, which calls for the
use of electric rail cars, will cost $745 million, or
about $20 million more than the $725 million initially
forecast.

But once several related projects that need to be done
for the line to work are included, the total price tag
is in the $1 billion range.

The revelation prompted anger from several city
councillors. The anger stemmed from a staff
presentation given by project leader Rejean Chartrand,
who repeatedly hailed the virtues of the project.

But during his presentation, it became clear several
items that some councillors felt should have been
included in the contract price had been lopped off to
keep the cost near the original estimate.

These include construction the line's maintenance
yard, the lease cost for the yard, extension of the
line to the centre of Barrhaven, operating costs of
the line, maintenance of the line for 15 years, money
to manage the project and more.

© Ottawa Citizen 2006