Your next ground transportation journey to or from the airport in Canada’s capital city can now be made via rail rapid transit.
Ottawa has now joined the limited club of cities in Canada and the United States that have a “train to the city” link between their principal international airport and the regional city centre.
Last week, after much anticipation and some delays, OC Transpo, the public transit authority of Ottawa, officially opened the O-Train’s Line 4 Airport Link — a brand new rail rapid transit line reaching Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW).
The O-Train’s Line 4 Airport Link now joins the 2009-built SkyTrain Canada Line between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and downtown Vancouver, and the 2015-built Union Pearson Express between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and downtown Toronto.
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) will become the fourth Canadian airport to see a rail rapid transit link between its airport and city centre, when the final phase of the SkyTrain-like REM train network opens in 2027. By what seems to be sheer coincidence, the end-to-end travel time between the airport and city centre is 25 minutes on the Canada Line, Union Pearson Express, and REM.
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
However, one key difference for the O-Train’s Line 4 Airport Link compared to the Canada Line, Union Pearson Express, and REM is that it is not a one-seat train ride between the airport and city centre without any transfers.
In order to travel by train between YOW and downtown Ottawa, passengers will have to change trains twice (for a total of three trains on three lines), including at Bayview Station to interchange between Line 1 (Confederation Line) and Line 2, and at South Keys Station to interchange between Line 2 and Line 4 Airport Link.
Map of the OC Transpo network with Line 4 Airport Link and the Line 2 extension. (OC Transpo)
Map of the OC Transpo network with Line 4 Airport Link and the Line 2 extension. (OC Transpo)
As part of the construction of the brand new Line 4 Airport Link, the existing Line 2, also known as the Trillium Line, was upgraded and saw its route significantly extended southwards. The southward extension involves building two new branches totalling 16 km of new route and six new additional stations, including the four-km-long Line 4 Airport Link, which has a total of three stations.
The upgrades to Line 2 effectively double the Trillium Line’s capacity. The upgrades included double-tracking more segments of the line, constructing dual platforms for stations that previously had one platform, and lengthening the station platforms to accommodate much longer trains.
Line 2 now has 80-metre-long platforms, while Line 4 Airport Link has 60-metre-long platforms for shorter trains. The final approach to YOW on Line 4 Airport Link is single-tracked, including the platform of Airport Station.
As an important feature for reliability and safety, similar to Ottawa’s new Confederation Line, the upgraded Line 2 and the new Line 4 Airport Link are fully grade-separated without any road crossings. Although OC Transpo prioritizes complete grade separation for its rail rapid transit projects, the trains are fully manned, not automated.
Line 2 and Line 4 Airport Link trains are scheduled every 12 minutes.
South Keys Station for Line 2 and Line 4 Airport Link. (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Upon inquiry, a spokesperson for OC Transpo told Daily Hive Urbanized that the total end-to-end travel time between Rideau Station in downtown Ottawa and Airport Station is about 57 minutes while using the Confederation Line, Line 2, and Line 4 Airport Link. This includes the walking times between platforms at the interchange stations and the waiting times for the trains while transferring.
According to Google Maps, the current alternative public transit option limited to buses — including trips requiring transfers between route — have a similar end-to-end travel time of roughly an hour for most times of the day. By car, the end-to-end driving time ranges from up to 55 minutes during congested peak periods to as low as 25 minutes during off-peak periods.
Passengers travelling southbound to YOW from downtown Ottawa can expect a waiting time of about 10 minutes for a Line 4 Airport Link train at South Keys Station after changing from Line 2 at this station. For northbound trips to downtown Ottawa, passengers can expect a shorter wait of seven minutes at South Keys Station for a Line 2 train after changing from Line 4 Airport Link. The difference in waiting times is due to both the scheduling of the different train directions and the operational configuration of Line 2 and Line 4 Airport Link trains sharing the platform at South Keys Station.
According to the spokesperson, the travel time just for the entire length of Line 4 Airport Link between South Keys Station and Airport Station is seven minutes.
Line 2 and Line 4 Airport Link soft opened on January 6, 2025, with trains currently only running on weekdays to enable OC Transpo to gradually roll out services and make any final operational adjustments. Later this winter, train services on both lines will expand to six days a week (weekdays plus Saturdays) before becoming a full seven-day service shortly after.
A new fully enclosed pedestrian bridge directly links YOW terminal building’s departures/check-in hall with Airport Station. Just beyond the fare gates, passengers will find a fully enclosed lounge area with seating and heating situated right next to the series of sliding doors to access the station platform.
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Line 4 Airport Link’s Airport Station at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). (OC Transpo)
Upon opening on its first day, Line 2 saw about 21,000 passengers. As for Line 4, over the first week of service, it is currently seeing an average of about 400 passengers per day, the spokesperson for OC Transpo told Daily Hive Urbanized.
These are relatively strong initial ridership numbers, especially considering that YOW serves a much smaller regional population than its counterpart airports — YYZ, YVR, and YUL — and its annual air passenger volumes are only a small fraction of those at Canada’s largest airports.
The final statistics are not in yet, but YOW is expected to end 2024 with a total of roughly 4.5 million passengers — up from 4.1 million in 2023 but still down from 5.1 million in pre-pandemic 2019.
The entire project of upgrading and extending Line 2 and building the new Line 4 Airport Link carried a total cost of about $840 million.
The City of Calgary is currently in the very early stages of planning a potential rail rapid transit link to serve Calgary International Airport (YYC), with City staff last week providing an update on the preferred route option for such a project. Similar to OC Transpo’s Line 4 Airport Link, YYC’s rail rapid transit connection could connect to the nearest existing LRT lines reaching downtown Calgary, requiring a transfer, instead of a direct, one-train ride to the city centre.