O-Train can 'easily' provide the service with a single-car train, OC Transpo boss says
The head of OC Transpo suggests the O-Train can "easily" offer service with single-car trains to meet ridership needs this summer, adding OC Transpo has been looking at only providing single-car trains on weekends to deal with low ridership.
The O-Train is expected to resume service on Monday morning, which would be two weeks after the LRT system was shut down after a bearing issue was discovered on one train during a routine inspection.
When O-Train service does resume, it will be running with eight single-car trains serving all stations, with trains stopping at stations every seven to eight minutes.
During an interview on CTV News at Six with Chief Anchor Graham Richardson, Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar said staff were already looking at running single-car service on weekends due to low ridership.
"We could easily give the service with one single train," Amilcar said, noting O-Train ridership is currently at 43 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
"This is something that we're working on for weekends because we know during the weekend we have less people onboard. So we were thinking about it, so that's why now we think it's a good decision to move forward with that (new inspection) regime."
OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group announced Wednesday that all leading and trailing wheel hub assemblies and axles would be replaced on O-Train vehicles every 60,000 km as part of a new inspection and replacement regime.
When the O-Train launched in 2019, the goal was to run 15 double-car trains during peak periods. OC Transpo has been running 11 double-car trains through the summer due to low ridership.
Amilcar tells CTV News Ottawa OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group will continue to run a single-car train service on the O-Train to save kilometres and limit inspections ahead of the fall.
"The reason why we will use single trains is just because we want to make sure we can support the new regime of the axles, which will be changed after 60,000 km. The system has been built to be able to either have one-single train or two trains," Amilcar said Thursday evening.
"We know that since the pandemic, we have reached 43 per cent of our capacity so that means we can easily welcome people onboard with a lot of satisfaction, I think."
On Monday, Amilcar announced Alstom and RTG have agreed to a design modification to the wheel hub assembly, calling it a "permanent fix" to the bearing issue that has caused issues on the O-Train line.
Amilcar told CTV News at Six it is a "final fix" that will resolve the issues with the bearing.
"I can tell you firmly, the fix will fix the problem; the permanent fix will resolve the issue."
Amilcar says the O-Train is "very, very new," and new technologies do encounter issues.
"Everywhere when we launch a new technology, you have to face a lot of problems. I was in Montreal before and it was the same thing."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.