OTTAWA -- Ottawa’s four-month old Confederation Line continues to run at reduced capacity today.
OC Transpo reports Rideau Transit Group has 11 trains available for the morning commute between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations.
OC Transpo normally runs 13 trains during the busy morning and afternoon peak periods. On Tuesday morning, only eight trains were launched during the morning commute. A ninth train was added around 8:30 a.m.
A switch issue between St. Laurent and Tremblay stations caused delays in the east-end around 7 a.m. OC Transpo reports the issue was solved at 7:30 a.m., and normal service resumed.
Transit Commission Chair Allan Hubley said Tuesday that Rideau Transit Group has been failing to uphold the maintenance agreement.
“The issue here is the maintenance that was supposed to be done on those trains – regular maintenance to those trains, and the line, the switches and so on – would have prevented all of this.”
Supplemental bus service will be deployed to help reduce capacity at Hurdman and Tunney’s Pasture.
In the morning, from 7:30 until 9 a.m., special buses will operate from Hurdman station and Tunney’s Pasture station to downtown.
In the afternoon, special buses will operate from Albert Street, just west of O’Connor, to both Hurdman and Tunney’s Pasture between 3 and 5:30 p.m.
Speaking with CTV News Graham Richardson during CTV News at Six, Mayor Jim Watson said the focus is on stabilizing the transit system, not worrying about the current 30-year contract with Rideau Transit Group.
“One of the challenges we face is we have to solve the problems now and stabilize the system for the benefit of our customers,” Watson said. “I want to deal with engineers now, not lawyers.”
