OTTAWA -- The British consulting firm brought in to assess the problems with the four-month old Confederation Line says “there’s a lot of work” to do, but the issues are “absolutely” fixable.
JBA Corp. founder James Boyle told Councillor Carol-Anne Meehan on Thursday that the goal is to build up the system over the “next coming days,” with 12-13 trains running by next week.
Ottawa commuters are facing a tenth straight weekday with reduced train capacity running during the morning and afternoon peak periods. Eight or nine trains have been running during the morning and afternoon peak periods due to electrical and maintenance issues with the trains.
Last week, the city announced Rideau Transit Group hired rail consulting firm JBA Corp. to assess the situation, and make recommendations to improve the system.
Councillor Meehan was able to ask JBA Consulting founder James Boyle about his assessment of the situation at the Belfast Yard.
Boyle told Meehan “there’s a lot of work and we’re going to get the trains back in service.”
Boyle says the biggest issues are “line contactors, line inductor failures, brake issues. There's quite a lot of things that we’re on.”
OC Transpo has said 13 trains are needed to run during the morning and afternoon peak periods. When asked if all the issues are fixable, Boyle said “absolutely”
Transportation Services General Manager John Manconi said Thursday that the city is working with Rideau Transit Group to “restore normal levels of service as quickly as possible.”
Manconi added that “until rail service is stabilized, we will continue to provide the same supplemental bus services we have been providing this week.”
Dozens of trips on high-frequency routes have been cancelled during morning and afternoon peak periods, with the bus directed to the “S1 supplemental bus service.” Buses are running non-stop from Blair, Hurdman and Tunney’s Pasture stations to downtown Ottawa.
