Ottawa LRT reopens after mechanical failure

A photo taken near Lees Station on Sunday morning shows one of the wires in the overhead catenary system that powers the train is missing from Ottawa's LRT line. (CTV News)

Ottawa’s light rail transit line fully reopened Sunday evening after a mechanical failure forced a section to close late Saturday night.

Around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, part of the overhead catenary system—the cables that power the trains—experienced a mechanical failure near Lees station, transit general manager Renée Amilcar said in a memo to council Sunday morning.

“One train was nearby and safely stopped at Lees Station. Approximately 20 passengers were transferred to a bus to continue their travels,” Amilcar said in the memo.

In a follow-up note just after 2 p.m., Amilcar said the repairs are nearly complete and the line would fully reopen Sunday afternoon. Rideau Transit Maintenance teams are working to determine the cause of the failure. Service resumed around 6 p.m. Sunday evening.

“The preliminary review indicates that there was an issue with a previous repair that was identified during a regular inspection to the OCS,” Amilcar said. “We are expecting further details from RTM later this week,” Amilcar said.

For much of the day Sunday, trains ran on loops between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations and from Hurdman to Blair stations. Replacement bus service was between Rideau and Hurdman stations.

Amilcar said the replacement buses were running well throughout the day. There were some higher passenger counts on a couple of bus trips – OC Transpo put additional replacement buses into service to cope with demand.

Final update on O-Train Line 1 service: Overhead Catenary System repairs are complete. Regular train service has resumed, and all platforms at all stations have reopened.

R1 will perform last trips between Rideau & Hurdman, to ensure all customer waiting are serviced. (1/2)

— OC Transpo (@OC_Transpo) December 18, 2022