LRT service resumes in Ottawa after a 54-day shutdown

OTTAWA -

Commuters are riding the O-Train to work and school today for the first time in 54 days.

Partial service resumed on the Confederation Line at 5 a.m. Friday, with trains running every seven to eight minutes at stops between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations.

"Almost perfect," said Transit Commission Chair Allan Hubley on the launch early Friday morning. "All the trains are running – the seven trains, plus we have three spares just in case anything comes up."

Mayor Jim Watson, new transportation services general manager Renee Amilcar and councillors Tim Tierney, Jeff Leiper and Mathieu Fleury were among the passengers using light rail transit service on the first day of service since Sept. 19.

During an interview on CTV Morning Live, Hubley was asked for his message to riders skeptical about the safety of the two-year-old system.

"I understand their concerns. I am not sugar-coating this in any way," said Hubley.

"We have gone through a very challenging time, all I can tell them is we've brought in the best people we could get to come in and review the plan independently and tell us if it was safe to return and we could trust and consider the system reliable.

"They have given us that assurance. I've got confidence today that that system is there for them and it's running, and hopefully what we see going forward now is more trains getting added to the schedule."

R1 replacement bus service continues to run along the Confederation Line route until more trains are added to the system.   The plan is for more trains to be added to the LRT system after they clear inspection until full service is back.

Hubley is optimistic full transit service will be running by Dec. 1.

In a message on Twitter, OC Transpo said, "Welcome back, everyone!"

The O-Train line went through a week of "extensive testing" along the full system before the launch.

The O-Train has been out of service since Sept. 19 when an LRT car derailed at Tremblay Station and continued westbound, damaging the LRT car, the station platform, the track and infrastructure before stopping west of Riverside Drive.

Philadelphia-based TRA Inc. has given the green light for service to resume following the derailment.  The city hired TRA to conduct an independent review and assessment of the two derailments in six weeks and Rideau Transit Group's safe return-to-service plan.

"Based on TRA’s determination and recommendation, the City accepts that all the requirements of due diligence have been satisfied," said City Manager Steve Kanellakos, adding TRA will continue to be "actively engaged" in the return to full revenue service plan and developing a plan for ongoing monitoring of the system.

TRA said each vehicle would undergo a "roof down to the wheels" re-inspection of all critical connections before entering service.

"Seriously, I have been using the R1 every day for an hour and a half one way, round-trip three hours, for almost seven-eight weeks," said Ahmed Zeher. "I am excited to have it back."

Some riders are happy LRT service is back, but are concerned issues will pop up in the future.

"I am optimistic and skeptical that it is going to have another problem down the road," said Chris Derrig.

The Transportation Safety Board said "inconsistent and incomplete maintenance" was to blame for the derailment on Sept. 19. The TSB recommended the city and RTG conduct an 'in-depth' review of all work performed on safety-critical components, and ensure there is "sufficient oversight" of maintenance work.

Coun. Catherine McKenney says while it's a relief LRT service is back on track, a public inquiry is needed to understand what went wrong and ensure it doesn't happen in the future.

"Having it up and running is fantastic, but we must understand what went wrong," said McKenney. "We have to know (as we are) building Phase 2, Line 2 with SNC Lavelin, that we are not making the same mistakes again."