I want to thank the General Manager of Transit Serivces for taking this week’s issue very seriously and acting quickly before it got worse. I understand that this has been inconvenient and incredibly frustrating for many residents who rely on the R1 transit service. As a member of the City’s Light Rail Sub-Committee I believe it is important that we resolve mechanical issues quickly, but that safety is never compromised in doing so.
I will continue to advocate on behalf of our residents and work with my colleagues and OC Transpo to ensure that the City is focused on providing a safe and reliable service. The Report on the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry made 103 recommendations to improve reliability and safety to our LRT system. Safety is the priority and without that we cannot move forward.
Memo from General Manager of Transit Services
This memo was received earlier today from Renee Amilcar, the General Manager of Transit Services Department, to update Mayor and Members of Council on the current service levels and ongoing investigation.
R1 Service
Currently, OC Transpo is providing the following service levels to our customers:
• R1 bus service continues to run between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair Stations
• During peak periods, 36 buses are in operation. This helps mitigate traffic issues and
increases reliability for our customers
New R1 Service Adjustments
• Starting at 3:00 PM, R1 service will be enhanced with the introduction of a shuttle
between Lees and Rideau stations. This will improve reliability and reduce travel times for
customers
For customers, this means:
- Westbound R1 service will run from Blair to Tunney’s Pasture stations, stopping at
- each station except for Lees station
- A shuttle will run between Lees, uOttawa and Rideau stations
- Customers travelling to Lees Station from the east can connect with the shuttle and
- Eastbound R1 service at uOttawa Station
- Eastbound R1 service will continue serve Lees Station
Our Transit Operations Control Centre is working on finalizing additional R1 route enhancements to ensure we deliver the best possible service to our customers. At the start of service tomorrow, R1 bus service will use Albert and Slater Street downtown, instead of Queen Street. For customers, this means:
- Westbound R1 buses will run on Albert street with stops at Bank and Kent
- Eastbound R1 buses will run on Slater street with stops at Kent and O’Connor
- New signage is being installed to notify customers about the alternate R1 stops
Staff are at stations supporting customers during their trips.
We encourage customers to visit OCTranspo.com for the latest information about their trips.
On-going investigation
Important progress continues to be made on all key areas of the ongoing investigation:
• Inspections
o Completed work:
The axle hub assemblies of 15 light rail vehicles have been checked. No issues have been discovered
An inspection of the light rail vehicle where the wheel hub assembly was identified uncovered no additional issues.
Planned work:
- Continued analysis of the results of the rail geometry assessments to identify non-conformances
- The underbodies of the remaining light rail vehicles will be inspected for excess grease
- Remaining light rail vehicles will be checked for wear and tear to the axle hub assembly
- RTG is pursuing additional equipment and resources to expedite this work
- The out of tolerance axle hub assembly will be assessed by the manufacturer
• Instrumented Bogie Tests:
o Completed work:
- The test train completed several runs in different train and track configurations, including different loads, to simulate real world conditions.
- A test train was also coupled with a light rail vehicle fitted with Smart Bugs.
- It completed several runs and captured additional data
o Planned work:
- Additional test train runs will be conducted with various configurations
- Results from previous tests will be analyzed
Return to Service Plan:
RTG is discussing return to service scenarios with the City
