'Simple brake default' to blame for stopped LRT car Thursday night, transit commission chair says

OTTAWA -

The chair of Ottawa's transit commission says a "simple brake default" caused a train to stop inside the light rail transit tunnel Thursday evening, keeping 50 passengers on the train for 55 minutes.

OC Transpo reported a stopped train on Twitter at 8:56 p.m., saying passengers would experience slightly longer travel times between Rideau and Parliament stations. Twenty minutes later, at 9:17 p.m., the transit service said regular service had resumed between the two stations.

"In the scheme of things it wasn't that major,” Transit Commission Chair Allan Hubley told CTV News Ottawa. ”It was a simple brake default.

"What took us a bit of time was to get the tech onto the train. Once he got on there, he was quick to be able to get it going. We got into Ottawa U and transferred the passengers over to one of our spare cars and they continued on to where they were going."

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa Friday afternoon, Director of Transit Operations Troy Charter said an eastbound train came to a safe stop between Rideau Station and uOttawa Station at 8:10 p.m. after experiencing a brake issue.

"While the operator attempted to rectify the issue, a Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) technician was dispatched to attend to the train to reset the brakes and bring the train to the nearest station," said Charter.

"The technician was able to bring the stopped train to uOttawa station where passengers disembarked after being on the stopped train for about 55 minutes. The stopped train was returned to the Maintenance and Storage Facility for further investigation and a replacement train was put into service."

One transit rider said on Twitter (@JRBVoodoo) that the train had been "broken down for 30 minutes" as of 8:51 p.m. Thursday. At 9:11 p.m., the rider said "we are freeee," and riders had gotten off the train at uOttawa station.

This was the second stopped train on the Confederation Line this week following the relaunch of service on Nov. 12. The LRT line had been out of service for 54 days following the derailment on Sept. 19.

On Tuesday, a train was stopped at Bayview Station during the afternoon commute. Staff said the train was stopped of an abundance of caution when the train's operator heard a sound.

MINOR ISSUES DURING MORNING LAUNCH

Charter says there were some 'minor issues" with a few trains while service was launched Friday morning.

"One train was taken back due to insufficient heat which caused a residual delay of a few minutes, before we could launch the other trains," said Charter, in response to an inquiry from Citizen Transit Commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert.

Charter says an eighth train was launched on-time at 6 a.m. as planned, and service continued with eight trains Friday afternoon.

"Our current service plan requires 7 trains to be available at the commencement of service, with additional trains being put into service starting at approx. 6 a.m.," said Charter.

"This is consistent with the original service plans as we increase the frequency of trains to match the increase in customers over the course of the morning commute."

Hubley concedes any issues with the LRT system right now will not help rider confidence.

"Certainly, passengers seem to be happy to get the trains back," said Hubley.

"You're absolutely right, even something simple as a break default is breaking news for you. I'm hoping as we keep getting consistent service every day people will start to trust the system a little more than they do today."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque and Newstalk 580 CFRA's Kristy Cameron