Trillium Line passes 14-day trial running

The north-south Trillium Line LRT has officially passed its 14-day trial running period.

OC Transpo says the line finished the test with a 14-day rolling average on-time performance of 99.5 per cent, a full point ahead of its goal. This comes more than two years after the line was initially scheduled to open.

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The test involved running Line 2 from Bayview Station to Limebank Station and Line 4 from South Keys Station to Airport Station as if each was accepting passengers. TransitNext, the line's builder, was required to have an on-time average score of 98.5 per cent after 14 days. If the final score had been below that, additional trial running tests would have been required. On-time performance was defined as the train leaving within 30 seconds of its scheduled time. 

Here is how the line performed on each day of testing:

Day 1: Monday Oct. 7

The Trillium Line had an on-time performance of 98.3 per cent on the first day of testing, just short of the 98.5 per cent rolling average required over the 14-day trial.

Key issues identified that caused the lower score included a minor braking issue on one of the trains and a software problem with CCTV camera functionality on two others.

Day 2: Tuesday, Oct. 8

The second day of testing had an on-time performance of 99.4 per cent, bringing the 14-day rolling average to 98.9 per cent. Four trains left their stations over the 30-second mark required to be considered on-time.

Among the key issues identified were another CCTV camera software problem on one of the trains.

Day 3: Wednesday, Oct. 9

The third day of testing had its first perfect score, with 100 per cent of the trains leaving on-time. The successful trial testing brought the 14-day rolling average to 99.3 per cent.

Day 4: Thursday, Oct. 10

The fourth day of testing had a perfect score, bringing the 14-day rolling average to 99.4 per cent.

Day 5: Friday, Oct. 11

The Trillium Line had an on-time performance of 99.4 per cent on the fifth day of testing, keeping the 14-day rolling average to 99.4 per cent.

Day 6: Saturday, Oct. 12

The sixth day of testing had a perfect score, bringing the 14-day rolling average to 99.5 per cent. There were 29 missed trips that day because of a shortage of operators but because operator scheduling is not within TransitNext's control, it was not penalized for those missed trips. One train was removed from Line 4 because of the lack of operators that day.

Day 7: Sunday, Oct. 13

The seventh day of testing had a perfect score, bringing the 14-day rolling average to 99.6 per cent.

Day 8: Monday, Oct. 14

The eighth day of testing had a score of 99.4 per cent, with the rolling average unchanged at 99.6 per cent. There was an issue with the CCTV cameras where they would not respond correctly when the operator switched from one cab to another at the terminus of the line. This was resolved by rebooting systems on the train.

Day 9: Tuesday, Oct. 15

The ninth day had a perfect score. The rolling average remained at 99.6 per cent.

Day 10: Wednesday, Oct. 16

The line had a daily score of 98.6 per cent on Day 10, the third-lowest score during testing. The rolling average dropped to 99.5 per cent. Two issues arose. The first was an issue involving a switch near Dow's Lake that did not move into position correctly, requiring the line to be stopped. The issue was resolved when the transit operations control centre manually reset the switch. The second issue involved an error notification linked to a speed sensor while the train was at Bayview Station. It was deemed to be the result of a faulty connection.

Day 11: Thursday, Oct. 17

The line had a performance of 99.4 per cent for the day, with the rolling average holding steady at 99.5 per cent. The speed sensor issue that arose on Day 10 happened again before the start of service, requiring the affected train to be swapped out, which caused two missed trips. The sensor issue was resolved during the morning.

Day 12: Friday, Oct. 18

The system had a perfect performance, its sixth day at 100 per cent. The rolling average remained 99.5 per cent.

Day 13: Saturday, Oct. 19

The system had a performance score of 99.4 per cent, keeping the rolling average at 99.5 per cent. Two trips were missed because of other issues. One was because two of the engines on a diesel-electric vehicle were not performing as intended and the train needed to be swapped. The other issue was because of a stuck switch near South Keys that was reset remotely.

In a memo to city council on Monday, Richard Holder, director of rail construction, noted that there was a revision to the score on Day 13, which took place Saturday.

"Please note that, following the review of vehicle logs relating to October 19 operations on Lines 2 and 4, there has been an increase to TransitNext’s on-time performance value from 97.4 to 99.4 per cent, which also increases the 14-day rolling average that day from 99.4 to 99.5 per cent. The vehicle log information was not available until the end of service on October 20. The data shows that the issue that caused some of the missed trips on October 19 was not vehicle related and therefore outside of TransitNext’s control," he wrote. 

Day 14: Sunday, Oct. 20

The final day of testing had a daily score of 98.4 per cent, the second-lowest score during testing. It was not enough to move the 14-day rolling average, however, and testing completed with a score of 99.5 per cent overall. On Sunday, the trip scheduling and signalling system experienced and error that required a manual override. Five trips were missed. That issue is still under investigation.

Holder told reporters on Monday that staff are not overly concerned with the errors that arose during the 14 days of testing.

"It's not completely trouble-free, but nor are we concerned about any kind of major systematic issue as we move forward with the next phase of trial running," Holder said. "We have time to address these issues."

What happens next?

OC Transpo and TransitNext will work through a series of simulated problem scenarios on the Trillium Line to see how staff respond over the next seven days. The second phase of testing began Monday afternoon and will continue until the end of service on Oct. 28.

"Removing trains from service, launching and reducing the number of trains throughout the day, and activating emergency response equipment such as the tunnel ventilation system in the Dow's Lake tunnel are but a few of the scenarios we'll be practicing over this final phase of trial running," said Troy Charter, director of transit service delivery and rail operations.

Charter said there will be 15 different test scenarios, but some could be repeated or additional drills could be added, time permitting.

"While there are no pass/fail criteria, the main objectives are to continue to exercise the trains and train control systems, continue to exercise the track infrastructure, including the track switches, and overall to allow OC Transpo and TransitNext staff to grow confidence and expertise with the system in a variety of operating conditions," he said.

Following this, there is final period of about three weeks that includes certification of substantial completion by an independent certifier, submission by TransitNext of the final engineering and safety assurance case, and a final review of the safety case by the City of Ottawa's independent safety auditor. The line must also be issued a certificate of fitness by the Canadian Transportation Agency and a railway operating certificate by Transport Canada.

Amilcar did not provide a firm opening date on Monday, but said she still expects the line to open to the public by mid-November.