Confederation Line service will resume in weeks, not months: Ottawa transit commission chair
The chair of Ottawa's transit commission suggests it will be weeks, not months, before the Confederation Line resumes service following last month's derailment.
Coun. Allan Hubley adds he's optimistic Rideau Transit Group can fix the problems with Ottawa's two-year-old light rail transit service permanently.
"I've lost confidence in their abilities here," said Hubley during an interview on CTV Morning Live Thursday morning.
"I haven't said that they can't do it, it's just they need to prove this to us. This is their chance to step up to show our ridership and the taxpayers of Ottawa that these are the right people for this job."
The Confederation Line has been out of service since Sept. 19, after an LRT car derailed near Tremblay Station, damaging the car, the track and the rail infrastructure. Rideau Transit Group said on Sept. 20 that it expected the rail line to be out of service for three weeks while the damage was repaired.
CTV Morning Live host Leslie Roberts asked Hubley if he had to target a date for the O-Train to resume service, would it be 30 days, three months or longer.
"Unfortunately, I cannot give you a specific date. We have to wait for the Transportation Safety Board to do their job, we've got to give them time and space to do a thorough investigation and provide us with direction from that," said Hubley.
"My hope is that once we get that green light from the Transportation Safety Board, RTM will be very quick in getting the trains out on the track.
"I definitely have no indication that it's going to be like months, I think we're talking weeks but I can't tell you how many weeks."
On Sept. 24, the city of Ottawa issued a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group as a result of the derailments on Aug. 8 and Sept. 19. On Tuesday, the finance and economic development committee voted to deliver a 'Notice of Dispute' to RTG, which escalates the legal dispute between the city and consortium operating the system.
"The derailments have caused severe reputational harm to the City and to the System," said a letter from Michael Morgan, Ottawa's director of rail, to RTG.
"The Derailments are affecting ridership and have seriously undermined the public's confidence in the System.RTG does not appear to appreciate the gravity of the current situation given its refusal and/or inability to implement swift and appropriate actions with an adequate level of resourcing."
A motion at FEDCO stated the city of Ottawa found RTG's plan to reduce service and the schedule were unsatisfactory. No details on RTG's plan to resume service were released to the public.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Vancouver quietly proclaimed Chip Wilson Day as billionaire installed sign calling B.C. NDP 'communist'
On the same day Chip Wilson erected a controversial sign at his Vancouver mansion, the city was quietly honouring the billionaire and his wife.
'It’s a dream come true’: Holt, Liberal cabinet sworn-in to office
Susan Holt is set to be officially sworn-in as New Brunswick’s 35th premier Saturday afternoon.
Florida's convicted killer clown released from prison for the murder of her husband's then-wife
A woman who pleaded guilty to dressing as a clown and in 1990 murdering the wife of a man she later married was released from prison on Saturday.
India trashes Canada for linking home minister to Sikh activist plot
India officially protested on Saturday the Canadian government's allegation that the country's powerful home minister Amit Shah had ordered the targeting of Sikh activists inside Canada, calling it 'absurd and baseless.'
The impact of Trump's lies in Springfield, Ohio
Springfield, Ohio was once a manufacturing hub. Now, people know it for Trump's comments at September's presidential debate, when he famously - and falsely - told an audience of 67 million people that Haitians eat their pets, echoing claims that had circulated on social media.
Danielle Smith facing leadership review Saturday to close out UCP convention
Some 6,000 United Conservative Party members are in Red Deer for the party's annual convention and will cast their votes today on what they think of Premier Danielle Smith's leadership so far.
Man says it's 'surreal' that officials euthanized pet squirrel Peanut
A man who took in an orphaned squirrel and made it a social media star vowed Saturday that New York state's decision to seize and euthanize the animal 'won't go unheard.'
Here's what you can buy for $729,000 in 8 Ottawa neighbourhoods
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at what you can buy for the average Ottawa home price of $729,000 in eight Ottawa neighbourhoods.
Israeli forces capture senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, Israeli military official says
Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday.