OC Transpo on track to resume full O-Train service on Monday

OC Transpo is on track to resume light-rail transit service on Monday with single-car trains running along the full 12.5 km route, 28 days after the system was shut down due to an axle-bearing issue on one train.

The return-to-service plan will include R1 service running on Monday, but will be phased out on Tuesday unless ridership levels are higher than expected, according to OC Transpo officials.

Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar says the work has been completed to adjust the restraining rails ahead of the return-to-service, and the trial running is underway on the east end of the track ahead of the expected return to service on Monday.

"Rideau Transit Group has now completed adjustments to all 16 restraining rails as part of the last requirement of the Safety Note from RTG and Alstom," Amilcar said in a memo to council.

"Trial running of trains through the east end of the rail line is beginning today and will continue throughout the weekend to verify that all requirements have been met, that the system is safe, and operations can resume on the entire line. OC Transpo will also undertake start-up activities to ensure the stations and systems are ready to welcome customers."

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Amilcar says the testing over the weekend will include ensuring there is no contact between the restraining rail and the wheel hub on the LRT vehicles.

"This is the last requirement of the Safety Note from RTG and Alstom that needs to be fulfilled," Amilcar said.

When full LRT service resumes between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations, there will be 11 single-car trains running during the morning peak period and 13 single-car trains during the afternoon peak period. Amilcar says trains will stop at stations every five minutes during the morning peak period and every four minutes during the afternoon peak period.

During non-peak weekday periods and on weekends, nine single-car trains will provide service every six minutes

"Over the weekend, OC Transpo, together with Transportation Resource Associates (TRA), will conduct a final review of RTG’s documentation to confirm that the requirements for the restart of Line 1 service across the full alignment have been met," Amilcar said.

Interim City Manager Wendy Stephanson will have final approval to resume full service on the LRT line, based on a recommendation from OC Transpo.

The O-Train was abruptly shut down on July 17 after an axle-bearing issue was discovered on one train during a routine 50,000 km inspection. Partial service resumed on Tuesday, with five single-car trains running between Tunney's Pasture and uOttawa stations.

Passengers are excited for the return of the O-Train line after four weeks of replacement bus service.

"It's been tough," transit rider David Eavis said on Friday. "My one-hour commute at home now takes about two-and-a-half hours, depending on connections."

Eavis adds, "when it works, it's great. It's just you can't rely on it."

Brenda Langevin told CTV news Ottawa, "You can't change the time right now but they should have hired a better person to make it."

As part of the return-to-service plan, Rideau Transit Group and Alstrom inspected the wheel hub assemblies on all 44 LRT vehicles and is replacing the leading and trailing wheel hubs and axles every 60,000 km. As of Friday, 26 trains have had the wheel hub assembles replaced.

Rideau Transit Group also had to adjust the restraining rails at eight locations as part of the Safety Note to resume service.

R1 bus service

OC Transpo will continue to run R1 replacement bus service between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations on Monday, but officials expect it will not be needed as of Tuesday.

"We should remove the R1 service on Tuesday," Amilcar said, adding an update on the future of R1 service will be provided on Sunday.

Officials are confident the single-car trains will be able to meet transit demand during the quieter summer months.

"We're pretty confident at this point that the operational plan that we have for the next week will more than meet the ridership demands," Joel Lemieux, acting director of Transit Service Delivery and Rail Operations, told reporters.

"However, with the R1 in place on Monday, we'll see if we're correct and if we see that the ridership is unexpectedly high we have plans to be able to put buses on standby on key locations or pivot back to an R1."

Single-car service

OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group will run single-car service on the O-Train line when service resumes on Monday, and Amilcar suggests it may continue into September, depending on ridership.

"We will run single-car trains because that will help to mitigate the new safety regime we have to implement….and the ridership now permits us to do that," Amilcar said.

The plan for back-to-school in September will be announced later this month, but Amilcar suggests OC Transpo is looking at double-car trains during afternoon peak periods in the fall.

"But most of the time, probably we'll stay with the single car until the ridership comes back."

Mayor meets with Rideau Transit Group officials

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe met with officials from Rideau Transit Group on Friday to discuss the current situation with the O-Train and plans for the fall and winter.

"I was very candid with them on what the people of Ottawa expect. I asked for, and received, a firm commitment from them that they will work with OC Transpo and the other contractors to implement permanent solutions and deliver to Ottawa residents and OC Transpo passengers the service that we deserve," Sutcliffe said.

"I emphasized our principles of safety, transparency and collaboration. We talked about the interim measures that will be required to maintain a safe service while the redesign is taking place; we also discussed the specific steps requires to achieve permanent, rather than short-term solutions; and we spoke about what needs to be done, including enhanced maintenance, to prepare for fall and winter conditions."

The mayor says the city and its partners continue to work on implementing the recommendations from last year's public inquiry.

"I'm encouraged that if we remain committed to our principles of safety, transparency and collaboration, we can get to the level of reliability within the system and that we will finally have the system that we paid for."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Dave Charbonneau