Still unclear when LRT will be back on track, but OC Transpo hopes it will be in another 12 days

OC Transpo is aiming for Wednesday to complete a risk assessment, followed by 10 days of work on adjusting the rails, said City of Ottawa transit services general manager Renée Amilcar.

Published Jul 31, 2023 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 3 minute read

People board an OC Transpo bus on Monday, July 31, 2023. Photo by Staff /Postmedia

As Ottawa heads into the third week of an LRT shutdown, it’s still unclear when the trains will be running again.

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But 12 days from now is an optimistic goal.

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OC Transpo is aiming for Wednesday to complete a risk assessment, followed by 10 days of work on adjusting the rails, said City of Ottawa transit services general manager Renée Amilcar. She said she’s hopeful the risk assessment will be completed by Wednesday, but couldn’t offer guarantees.

“We know this will be frustrating to our customers,” Amilcar said Monday. “What is my hope? It’s Wednesday. But let’s see what will happen tomorrow.”

The $2.1-billion Confederation Line has been shut down since July 17 after excess grease was found on the axle of one light rail vehicle during a routine inspection.

A limited return to service had been planned for Monday, with eight single-car trains running from Blair Station to Tunney’s Pasture Station. But the Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which maintains the system, and Alstom, which manufactured the trains, said more work has to be done to prevent contact between the train wheel and the restraining rail on the track, particularly on 16 curved sections of track.

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The risk assessment to be conducted in the next few days will provide assurance that the restraining rail will still be able to prevent a derailment, said Amilcar.

While this work is being done, RTG is replacing the hub assemblies on all the light rail vehicles in its fleet. So far, the assemblies have been replaced on 12 vehicles, she said.

“This is good news. Those ongoing replacements increase the number of trains ready to operate,” said Amilcar.

Meanwhile, RTG has hired Atkins, a design, engineering and consultancy firm affiliated with Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin, which is expanding the Trillium Line. The terms of reference of the contract are still being worked out, said RTG CEO Nicolas Truchon.

“The issues we’re looking at right now are not specific to construction. They’re more about maintenance in terms of looking for some of the answers and validation of the way forward,” he said.

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“We wanted to go with a firm that had internationally acknowledged expertise with respect to maintenance, which is why we went to Atkins.”

On Friday, city officials had said they hoped to complete the risk assessment by the end of the weekend. But the focus of the work completed over the weekend has been to determine what actions have to be taken for a full risk assessment, said Amilcar.

On Monday, OC Transpo introduced a new express service to augment the 36-bus R1 service. The new service provides customers with more more options to get to and from downtown during the busy morning and evening peak periods, said Amilcar.

Amilcar once again sidestepped the question of whether transit riders would be compensated for their frustration at spending more time in transit.

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“We started this year with a $29 million shortfall, so we have to find that $29 million,” she said.

“We just want to give good service. After that, we will be able to work with them and see what council can do.”

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the goal is to share as much information as possible. He said he will be meeting with Alstom, which designed Ottawa’s Citadis Spirit trains.

“We now know that the issues that arose during testing two weeks ago are the same problems that led to incidents in August 2021 and July 2022,” said Sutcliffe. “So the redesign of the axles, which is already underway, is a major part of the permanent solution that we require.”