OTTAWA

City issues notice of default to Rideau Transit Group

Josh Pringle CTV News Ottawa Producer and Digital Lead

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2020 4:03PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, March 10, 2020 4:55PM EDT

An east-bound O-Train pulls in to Rideau Station on the Confederation Line of the Light Rail Transit system in Ottawa, Ont. (Brenda Woods/CTV Ottawa)

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OTTAWA -- The clock is now ticking for Rideau Transit Group to present a plan to the City of Ottawa to fix the issues with the Confederation Line.

The City of Ottawa issued a notice of default to RTG on Tuesday, giving the partnership responsible for maintaining the light rail transit system until March 31 to provide a plan to address the issues.

Council voted 19-0 on Monday to issue the notice of default as problems continue to plague the six-month-old light rail transit system.

According to the City of Ottawa, the notice of default is a contractual notice advising Rideau Transit Group that it is not fulfilling its obligations under its contract with the city.

A statement from the city says “Rideau Transit Group will now have a duty to produce a plan and schedule to remedy these failures. There will be no interruption to rail service."

Council also delegated the City Manager to take any other actions required under the Project Agreement to give effect to Council’s decision.

Staff will report to Council on Rideau Transit Group’s plan to fix the issues on April 8.

City manager Steve Kanellakos says “we will bring their plan to Council with our assessment on how they intend to fix ongoing problems and ensure they meet their obligations under the contract in a timely manner.”

Rideau Transit Group told the Transit Commission on Feb. 19 that long-term fixes for the power/arcing issues with the trains was a year away. RTG says a software upgrade to be implemented in mid-April may be the key to resolving the issues with the door faults.