Full O-Train service resumes following infrastructure repairs near Lees Station
Full service resumed on the Confederation Line Saturday morning after crews completed repairs to the Overhead Catenary System near Lees Station.
Rideau Transit Maintenance crews worked overnight to repair the broken arm that supports the wire in the Overhead Catenary System, which caused a train to stop near Lees Station just after 5 p.m. Friday and partially disrupted service through the evening.
There was no O-Train service line between St. Laurent and Rideau stations for approximately one hour on Friday following a "technical issue" with the system. Just after 6 p.m., OC Transpo said the O-Train was only running on the eastbound track between uOttawa and Hurdman stations.
The "technical issue" was later identified as a broken arm that supports the Overhead Catenary System near Lees Station.
"A parafil – the arm that supports the wire in the Overhead Catenary System – broke near Lees Station," Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar said in a memo to Council.
"Trains were able to come to a safe stop at the station to allow customers to disembark. Customers on one train near Lees stations were able to safely exit the train and make their way to the platform."
A transit rider shared a video from an O-Train vehicle on Twitter, with an announcement saying "we've got something at Lees Station that's on the track that needs to come out. I don't know how long it's going to take."
CTV News Ottawa's Natalie van Rooy reported a train was stopped on the westbound track just outside of Lees Station Friday evening, and was sitting in the dark.
Amilcar said Rideau Transit Maintenance would repair the parafil overnight, when Line 1 is out of service, to "avoid further customer impacts."
Amilcar told council the "repeated problems with the parafils is of utmost concern", and OC Transpo is looking at alternatives.
"The parafils have undergone inspections and added protection to address previous failure occurrences," Amilcar said.
"We are actively seeking alternatives to this product for Line 1. The Stage 2 extensions of the O-Train are designed with a different OCS support configuration that does not include parafils."
OC Transpo reported Saturday morning the repairs to the infrastructure were completed, and all platforms at all stations are open.
The broken parafil at Lees Station comes four weeks after the Confederation Line was shut down in the same area for six days following a freezing rain storm.
The O-Train was out of service from Jan. 4 to 10 after two trains stopped during a freezing rain shower, and the Overhead Catenary System was damaged.
On Thursday, the Transit Commission was told a "unique combination of factors" led to two trains on the Confederation Line getting stuck between Lees and Hurdman stations, including a warmer-than-usual start to January, high levels of humidity and freezing rain.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.