An Ottawa LRT train pulls into uOttawa Station on July 24, 2022.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
For the third day straight Wednesday, technical issues shut down the light-rail transit that serves the nation’s capital. The latest in a series of problems for the Confederation Line led a visiting Ontario Premier Doug Ford to describe the system as “a mess.”
“We put a tremendous amount of money into the LRT. We handed it over to the City of Ottawa,” Mr. Ford said when the Confederation Line arose as a topic of concern during a health care announcement at an Ottawa hospital.
Mr. Ford paused to figure out how to proceed, and recalled a public inquiry on the $2.1-billion system reported last December that found, among other issues, the system was rushed into opening before it was ready.
“I don’t know,” he said finally. “It was a mess. That’s all I can say.”
Out on the streets of Ottawa, buses are bearing the loads of passengers meant for the LRT, which was launched with considerable fanfare in 2019 and includes 13 stations across central Ottawa, one within a block or so of Parliament Hill.
The latest trouble, disclosed on Monday, involves an issue with the axle bearing of a train – a situation that has led to the inspection of all trains used in the system.
This week’s issue is not an outlier. Full system shutdowns that would be unprecedented in other Canadian cities have become common in the nation’s capital.
While, for example, the Vancouver region’s automated SkyTrain system has had two system shutdowns in the last decade, it’s a challenge to keep track of the Ottawa-area woes of the Confederation Line.
In September, 2021, the Confederation Line was shut down for a month and 23 days over issues with bolts on trains. There were also derailment issues. Over the past year, there have been full LRT shutdowns due to freezing rain and problems with wheel-hub assemblies. Last July, a lightning strike on exposed system wires led to a four-day shutdown.
Amer Shalaby, a University of Toronto engineering professor whose specialties include public transit planning and operations, said in an e-mail exchange on Wednesday that based on his anecdotal observation of LRT systems in the United States and Europe, he had not heard of another undergoing complete shutdowns of service so frequently.
Edmonton’s LRT system general supervisor said Wednesday it is rare to contemplate a system-wide shutdown. In a statement, Chris Nelson said there are annual small maintenance shutdowns each year in the Albertan city. As for a general shutdown, he cited only two instances, one in 2018 and 2019 and both were planned efforts to allow a test of the signalling system.
On Wednesday afternoon, OC Transpo, which provides transit across Ottawa, released an update that listed current efforts to fix the issues, but made no promises about service resuming.
It said 44 light rail vehicles had their axle hub assemblies and underbodies checked and no problems were found. The axle hub assembly from the light-rail vehicle where an issue was found has been sent to the manufacturer for detailed investigation. A test train is also running on the tracks.
On an issue of a return-to-service plan, the update said the Rideau Transit Group consortium contracted to build Phase One of the system “is currently developing a plan.” The consortium, a public-private membership group, consists of ACS Infrastructure Canada, EllisDon Corp. and SNC-Lavalin.
The Confederation Line came about under the mayoralty of Jim Watson, who governed the city for an overall 15 years, but did not seek re-election last fall.
Mr. Ford said Wednesday he thinks the world of current mayor Mark Sutcliffe, and is hopeful that the former broadcaster and businessman can sort out the Confederation Line situation. “We’re there to support him anyway we can,” said the premier.
Mr. Ford said he hopes a second phase of the system, now under construction, is better executed.
Mr. Sutcliffe said Wednesday that LRT service can only be provided if there’s 100 per cent confidence in the safety of the system, noting no level of risk is acceptable.
“I support this idea of being extremely, extremely cautious,” Mr. Sutcliffe said in an interview on the radio broadcast NewsTalk 580 CFRA’s Morning Rush with Bill Carroll.
He said the issue is to hold contractors accountable for the service the city paid for, and to make the Confederation Line as reliable as other transit systems.