Partial LRT service to resume Tuesday from Tunney's Pasture to uOttawa

Ottawa transit riders will be back on part of the Confederation Line LRT starting Tuesday as work continues to restore service to the full line after more than three weeks.

In a memo Monday, Transit Services General Manager Renée Amilcar said partial service on O-Train Line 1 would be restored between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations on Tuesday, Aug. 8. at 5 a.m.

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Amilcar says this means:

• Line 1 service will operate between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations
• Five single-car trains will provide service every five minutes
• R1, R1 Express and Para R1 services will continue to operate with no changes
• An additional train can be launched during peak periods to accommodate high customer volumes
• Customers may notice slower train speeds in the tunnel due to a speed restriction as part of safety requirements during the gradual resumption of service
• Staff will be at stations supporting customers during their trips

"By operating with single-car trains, OC Transpo can accommodate current customer volumes and manage the fleet availability over the long term," Amilcar wrote.

Trains will depart from the front of the platform in the direction of travel, since single-car trains will not occupy the entirety of the platforms like double-car trains do. Decals will be installed to help direct customers.

An example of a "boarding zone" decal at an LRT station while single-car service is in effect. (City of Ottawa/supplied)

R1 replacement bus service continues to run between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations for a fourth week after trains were ground to a halt on July 17 following concerns over a wheel hub assembly issue on one train that was discovered during an inspection.

This week, crews will be working on repositioning the restraining rails at eight curves along the tracks. There are two tracks at each location. Each restraining rail needs to be adjusted by 1 to 2 millimetres, officials have said. These curves in the line are largely in the eastern end. Amilcar said work on the western end of the line is complete, so partial service can resume. So far, restraining rails have been adjusted in nine of 16 locations, Amilcar's memo said.

Here are the parts of the tracks where work is being performed:

• Curve 130 east of Rideau Station
• Curve 210 east of Lees Station
• Curve 220 west of Hurdman Station
• Curve 230 east of Hurdman Station
• Curve 240 west of Tremblay Station
• Curve 280 east of Tremblay Station
• Curve 290 west of St Laurent Station
• Curve 300 west of St Laurent Station

Amilcar told reporters Monday there are some administrative tasks to complete before service can resume, but she is confident the trains will be rolling on part of the line Tuesday morning. She said she and transit commission chair Coun. Glen Gower would ride the first train as it launches Tuesday at 5 a.m.

Transit stations between Tunney's Pasture and uOttawa are being prepared for Tuesday's resumption of service. Staff are cleaning stations, reactivating escalators and elevators, verifying all announcement systems are working and updating messages, placing wayfinding signage for station navigation, preparing outreach staff, and installing new decals to identify single-car boarding locations at the platforms.

Amilcar told reporters Monday that the LRT will run with single-car service through the remainder of August and staff are working on a plan for September. The service will run with five cars to start on Tuesday, but a sixth will be ready to launch if passenger volume demands it, she said.

"If you are living in the west, please take the train. It's safe," Amilcar said. "If you prefer to continue to run with R1, please do so. For people in the east, they will have R1 on the entire line, the R1 express as well from Blair to three stations in downtown and we will still provide service to accommodate people with disabilities."

There will also be a temporary speed reduction in the tunnel near Rideau Station. RTM general manager Enrique Martinez Asensio said it was due to needing new brackets for the restraining rail in that part of the track. For the time being, those restraining rails have been removed and the speed reduction has been put in place.

Asensio says since the location of the track in question is close to the station, he does not anticipate any service interruptions because trains approaching the station would already be braking. The restraining rail in that area will be replaced when new brackets to hold it arrive in the next week to 10 days, he explained.

RTG and RTM are also replacing the wheel hub assemblies on all trains to fit in with a new maintenance regime of replacing the front and back assemblies every 60,000 km. As of Monday, 22  of 45 vehicles had been fitted with new assemblies.

Amilcar says she is confident that the LRT will be accepting passengers along the full length of the line starting Aug. 14.

An LRT service map for the week of Aug. 8-14, showing partial train service between Tunney's Pasture and uOttawa stations and R1 service the length of the line. (City of Ottawa/supplied)

In a memo Monday morning, Amilcar said R1 express service between Blair station and downtown Ottawa is not running Monday because of the Colonel By holiday, but R1 Para Transpo service remains available. Customers can book this service the same day, speak to OC Transpo staff at stations to request the service, or can call 613-560-5000 for additional supports.

'It has been embarrassing': Sutcliffe

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe addressed the media Monday to announce the partial resumption of Line 1 service on Tuesday, saying it is one step on a long journey to Ottawa having the train system it deserves.

"The critically important work to permanently fix the system continues. There are still many milestones ahead and it will take a long time before we reach our final goal, but we are moving in the right direction," he said. "I want to reassure you, again, that I and the team at city hall and OC Transpo will not rest until Ottawa residents have the sytem we deserve."

When asked about how the troubles with LRT reflect on Ottawa on the national and international stage, he said it has been embarrassing for the city.

"I think much of what has happened over the last few years, leading up to the public inquiry, has been embarrassing for the city of Ottawa," he said. "I think it has been embarrassing for the people of Ottawa to have a system that is unreliable. That's why we are taking every step possible to follow the recommendations of the public inquiry, to put safety and transparency first, and to focus on not just getting the trains running again when there's a shutdown, but on the permanent solutions that are going to finally give the residents of Ottawa the light rail system that they expect, that they deserve, and that they paid for."

If tracks were issue, fix would look different: RTG

The head of the Rideau Transit Group says the much-touted "permanent fix" involving a lengthy process to redesign, test, and install modified wheel hub assemblies on all light rail vehicles is the fix the consortium is looking for.

Much has been said about the pressures placed upon the axle bearings because of certain configurations on the tracks, including the restraining rails constantly coming into contact with wheels, which is why that work is being undertaken.

But RTG CEO Nicolas Truchon said if the tracks were the source of the problem, the solution would look different.

"If the solution was in the track, we would be going into a different strategy," he said. "We've been spending a lot of time and energy looking for solutions with respect to the track. Tearing up the track doesn't seem to be the permanent fix for this solution, so we need to find ways to reduce the forces."

He said the top-of-rail lubrication plan, which would see devices installed to apply a lubricant to certain parts of the line as trains pass over would help reduce some of the forces on the wheel hubs that have been causing issues while the city awaits the wheel hub redesign, which could take up to three years to complete. The lubricant and devices are expected to be ready by the end of 2023. 

The top-of-rail lubrication and restraining rail gaps the city is working on will be incorporated into Stage 2 design processes.