No new timeline for LRT return to service, OC Transpo says

OC Transpo can no longer provide an estimate for when its light railsystem will return to service, the transit agency says.

"We will not rest until we have the permanent solutions and the system that Ottawa deserves," Mayor MarkSutcliffe said at a Monday afternoon news conference.The full news conference is availablein the player above.

OC Transpo originally set July 31 as its target date for reopening light rail service, two weeks after the start of the latestshutdown.

Instead, OC Transpo said at anews conference last Friday the target would be missed becausea new risk assessment must be completed before an additional 10days of repairs are doneto thetracks.

Sutcliffe said OC Transpo made that target public as part of amore transparent approach to communications,in which the agency shared the best information available at the time.

Rene Amilcar, the city's general manager of transit services, said Monday OC Transpo can no longer providean anticipated date for the safe resumption of service but does hope to complete the risk assessment by Wednesday.

"When we are able to, we will provide a timeline to restart railservice," Amilcar said.

Conditions for return to service

Before service can resume, the consortium that built the Confederation Line, Rideau Transit Group (RTG), is working withexternal engineering firm AtkinsGlobalto determine where it must reposition restraining rails along the tracks, according to a Monday afternoon memo.SNC-Lavalinacquired Atkins in 2017.

Restraining rails located at several curvesalong the track, which aredesigned toprevent derailments, must be adjusted by a matter of millimetresto stop them from contactingthe trains'wheels duringnormal operation.Those repairs are expected to take 10 days, the memo read.

Amilcar said a "maintenance issue" was behind problemswith therestraining rails.

Once work on the tracks is complete, a trial run with no set start datewill be conducted.

According to the memo, an analysis of a reportfrom French axle manufacturer Texelis confirmed the degradation of the wheel hub that caused the ongoing shutdown is "similar to what was found"to have caused aderailment in August 2021 and a wheel hub failurein July 2022.

The agency is alsoin the process of replacing the wheel hub assemblies across its entire train fleet. To date, those assemblies have been replaced on12 cars.

In the meantime, OC Transpo launched a newexpress shuttle serviceMonday in an effort to speed up rush-hour trips from Blair station to downtown.

Ottawa's LRThas been shut down since the afternoon of July 17. A bearing problem is behind the latest shutdown, but the city has not explainedwhy the issue keeps happening.