Report on destructive 2022 LRT lightning strike released

Service was suspended for four days following the incident.

Published Oct 07, 2023 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 1 minute read

OC Transpo had to launch a replacement bus service on after lightning damaged overhead wires used by the Confederation Line. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

The lightning bolt that fried the LRT power lines in the summer of 2022 carried a current of between 30,000 and 100,000 amperes and downed nearly a kilometre of wire, according to a report on the incident for next Friday’s City of Ottawa transit commission meeting.

The lighting strike during a thunderstorm on the night of July 24 hit the uppermost wire of the train’s overhead catenary cables near Hurdman Station. The sudden and massive surge of power — by comparison only about 15 amperes flows into your toaster — defeated the LRT’s surge protectors and travelled along the cable until it reached the Highway 417 overpass near Lees Station, the report says. There it “flashed over” to the bridge itself and went to ground.

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The overheated cable, still carrying power, broke and fell on the track, damaging rails in three places. Two heavy concrete weights, meant to keep tension on the cable, also crashed to the ground.

LRT security cameras captured the strike.

It took three days to put it all back together again by repairing the rails, installing and splicing in 900 metres of cable and reinstalling the weights. Since then, maintenance crews have tested and made adjustments to the LRT’s electrical system, increasing the cables’ clearance from surrounding structures, for example, and removing nearby metal where possible.

LRT service resumed four days after the strike.

In keeping with Ottawa’s hard-luck experience, the report noted there was “little published data available on the lightning effects and design experience from other transit agencies.”

OC Transpo presented the electrical report to the commission for information purposes.

The transit commission will also receive reports on the shutdowns that occurred twice last winter due to storms as well as ongoing work to fix faulty wheel-axle assemblies.