Rideau Transit Maintenance continues to investigate cause of axle failure on LRT car on Aug. 8
Rideau Transit Maintenance and Alstom are still trying to figure out why an axle bearing assembly failed, causing an LRT train to derail near Tunney’s Pasture station six weeks ago.
“We’re still not at the point where we can definitely say why that nut came loose,” said RTM chief executive officer Mario Guerra. “That we don’t know yet.”
On Aug. 8, the axle of an LRT car became “dislodged” from the track, shutting down the Confederation Line from Blair Road to Tunney’s Pasture.
There were no passengers onboard the train at the time of the incident.
Councillors were told in August that the root cause investigation identified a fault within the axle bearing assembly, causing the wheel to detach from the axle and derail.
The investigation found the “green section of the bolt, which should be completely tightened, had a very small amount of movement by fractions of a millimeter.” The movement caused damage to bearings inside the unit and wheel, leading to the wheel/axle coming off the track.
During Monday’s Transit Commission meeting, Director of Transit Operations Troy Charter told commissioners that Alstom and RTM continue to focus on what caused the axle and bearing to fail, “and establish the permanent fix.”
All O-Train LRT cars were inspected, with nine additional O-Train vehicle pulled out of service for additional analysis of the axle.
Charter says vehicle inspections will continue on all LRT vehicles to ensure “safe operation of the fleet” and will continue until a permanent fix is identified and in place.
Alstom has identified additional tools to help diagnose pre-cursor symptoms that vehicles may exhibit through monitoring software, said Charter.
Thirty-eight of the 39 rail cars have been inspected. The remaining car is out of service for unrelated repairs.
Coun. Jeff Leiper asked Rideau Transit Maintenance about the inspection of the axle when it arrived in Ottawa.
Guerra said the axle was pre-assembled in Europe.
“The assembly comes pre-assembled as a unit. The assembly would have been inspected by Alstom in Europe before shipping to North America.”
The Transportation Safety Board was notified about the derailment, and was looking into the incident.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
OC Transpo provided a timeline of events on Aug. 8
- 8:30 p.m. – an out-of-service train leaving Tunney’s Pasture Station experienced an “abnormal ride” as it was being returned to Belfast Yard.
- Event was reported immediately; train stopped and inspected
- At approximately 8:45 p.m. inspection found one axle out of 10 off the rail
- Service Command Centre was activated at 11 p.m. as a proactive precautionary measure in the event the incident would affect service in the morning
-
Following the end of daily service as work commenced to
rerail the train, an issue with the wheel/axle was identified. - At approximately 3:30 a.m. Alstom notified the city that the entire fleet would require inspection prior to resuming Line 1 service
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.