Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The trains can drive themselves, but because it's low floor it can't safely be done. It's a weird system in so many ways. Maybe someone has more insight.

With low floor there isn't as much space to easily install a track intrusion system like the mid floor Vancouver Skytrain has.

And the trains can drive themselves, but aren't there still issues around the trains 100% knowing their location at all times down to the cm? The systems traditionally use wheel rotation counts as one of the location variables, and when that location doesn't align with wayside location cues, the computers can error out if they're beyond the margin programmed in or the cues aren't counted as 'most reliable' to reset the wheel position calculations.

Toronto installed tens of thousands of wayside cues to solve this problem on the subway to implement moving blocks without impacting reliability.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by roger1818

Are Metrolinx seeing the same issues with the Wheel Bearing Assembly that we are?

We don’t know yet. Metrolinx bought Citadis Spirit vehicles for the Finch West Line and the Hurontario Line. The Finch West just opened, and the Hurontario isn’t scheduled to open until 2029. Give it time.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

We don’t know yet. Metrolinx bought Citadis Spirit vehicles for the Finch West Line and the Hurontario Line. The Finch West just opened, and the Hurontario isn’t scheduled to open until 2029. Give it time.

Those lines should be a relatively straight shot though compared to the alignment that we have? I'm not saying that for certain but off the top of my head I feel like that is largely the case.

Also.. 55 minutes for Finch West to cover a little over 10kms. Sweet mother of god transit has no hope in this province/corner of the world.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

Those lines should be a relatively straight shot though compared to the alignment that we have? I'm not saying that for certain but off the top of my head I feel like that is largely the case.

Also.. 55 minutes for Finch West to cover a little over 10kms. Sweet mother of god transit has no hope in this province/corner of the world.

I pointed out with the Finch West line, buses passing the trains and at one point, an electric scooter
passing a Finch train. Hopefully the embarrassment to the city alone will generate some solutions to horrendously slow speed.

But, we still suffer speed problems here as well.

[Kitchissippi]

Derrick Toigo, the city's head of transit expansion basically said on camera a few weeks ago that increasing the operating speed and implementing full transit signal priority on the Finch West LRT would cause more maintenance on the vehicles. I’m beginning to think that the Citadis Spirit was designed to crawl like a streetcar.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Derrick Toigo, the city's head of transit expansion basically said on camera a few weeks ago that increasing the operating speed and implementing full transit signal priority on the Finch West LRT would cause more maintenance on the vehicles. I’m beginning to think that the Citadis Spirit was designed to crawl like a streetcar.

Hmm.. well for whatever its worth starting and stopping at lights because you don't have signal priority as well as starting and stopping at each station would cause a certain amount of wear.

Imagine that eh. .. blowing red lights in your Honda Accord. Sorry sir.. I didn't stop because I only have so many start/stop cycles on this old jalopy.

If anyone saw one of Reece Martins very few coming out of retirement videos about Finch West it was not positive at all and he's generally a very amicable fellow. He more or less said it depressed him and he left early despite being and invited guest which was also somehow a first for him.

I haven't ridden the LRT all that much in the last year or so with Line 2 being open but do you all remember in at least the early years the LRT grinding/screeching to a halt at every stop? I can't actually say if the wheels were actually skidding to a stop but from the inside that's certainly what it felt like. Then you hear about wheels being flat spotted.

The Citadis Spirit are garbage and I despise them. Ottawas implementation of them certainly didn't help. No straps, pathetic orange screens on only one side of the car, no indication which side of the car you should exit, a printed sticker rather than easy to see way finding for upcoming stations and bus connections. And so on and so on. It's also tiny. I know I keep saying this, but my lord the interiors of those vehicles are claustrophobic.

We took a shit vehicle and found every single possible way to make it slightly worse. And I am just talking about the interior fitup.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

If I’m reading this article correctly, Line 1 had:

• A stopped train near the west end of the tunnel on Wednesday morning;
• A stopped train near the west end of the tunnel on Thursday morning; and
• A stopped east-bound train somewhere between the west portal into St. Laurent (just east of the switch to west-bound tracks) and Blair on Thursday morning.

Haven’t there been past reports of power issues between Pimisi and Lyon? I wonder if there is a transition between overhead wire to overhead power bar? (I can’t remember if wires continue through the tunnel, or if power bars/rails are used.) I believe that there is also a Traction Power Sub Station (TPSS) beside that tunnel portal. That would indicate that there is a power transition there from one TPSS to another. That transition may also be problematic.

The stopped east-bound train, this morning, would not have been an overhead power problem (since that would have affected west-bound track operation also). This was, likely, just a random train problem. That happens.

A power failure would be more obvious.

In the vast majority of instances where there is a "stopped train" on the line, it is because something has tripped the train's emergency brakes. Examples include overspeeds, the guideway intrusion detection system being tripped (often from a false-positive), or any other number of faults on the vehicle itself.

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Derrick Toigo, the city's head of transit expansion basically said on camera a few weeks ago that increasing the operating speed and implementing full transit signal priority on the Finch West LRT would cause more maintenance on the vehicles. I’m beginning to think that the Citadis Spirit was designed to crawl like a streetcar.

The maintenance contracts are typically based around the mileage of the vehicles. Objectively speaking, shortening the end-to-end cycle times of the vehicles will increase their usage leading to "more wear and tear" as components become due for lifecycle replacements sooner (because those are based on mileage).

Since the TTC is the operator, but Metrolinx owns the infrastructure, and itself contracts out maintenance.. there's a lot of hot potato-ing about who is on the hook for what costs when the usage/mileage on the trains changes. It doesn't mean the trains aren't capable of more utilization.. the contract structure is just a mess.

[rocketphish]

New bearing problem forcing OC Transpo to take some LRT cars out of service
Reduction will likely cause crowding on trains and platforms until problem is fixed

CBC News
Posted: Jan 21, 2026 3:53 PM EST | Last Updated: less than a minute ago

A newly identified problem with the wheel assemblies on Ottawa's Line 1 LRT vehicles is forcing OC Transpo to reduce the number of cars in service, which could exacerbate crowding on trains and platforms during peak periods.

In a memo from transit services general manager Troy Charter, OC Transpo said "spalling" — when flakes break off the metal surface inside the axle bearing — was detected on several cartridge bearing assemblies.

The cartridge bearing assembly joins the axle to the wheel, allowing it to roll while supporting the weight of the train.

The city is removing train cars with bearings that have 100,000 kilometres of mileage "out of an abundance of caution," Charter wrote in the memo.

Starting Wednesday evening, Line 1 will operate with a combination of single- and double-car trains while maintaining current frequencies. The trains normally have two cars.

OC Transpo said this modified service will continue until the bearing issue has been addressed, and warns that "customers may experience crowding on trains and platforms at times during the morning and afternoon peak periods" as a result.

The assemblies have failed before, causing a derailment in 2021 and forcing a lengthy LRT shutdown in 2023.

In the memo, Charter identified the latest setback as separate from the one that caused those previous issues.

The City of Ottawa is holding a news conference at 4 p.m. to provide more information.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ne...line-1-vehicles-out-of-service-9.7054679

[lrt's friend]

How many trains are they taking out of service? Half the fleet? After all, you would think that there would be a lot of surplus trains with Phase 2 east to start service very soon. I presume this means that Phase 2 east will be delayed with not enough trains in safe operational condition.

[urbanforest]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

How many trains are they taking out of service? Half the fleet? After all, you would think that there would be a lot of surplus trains with Phase 2 east to start service very soon. I presume this means that Phase 2 east will be delayed with not enough trains in safe operational condition.

This is completely unsubstantiated but someone on Reddit said there are rumours that we currently don’t have enough trains for the east extension, which is the real reason behind the delay. I’m not well enough informed to know if that’s remotely true, and I hope I’m not spreading misinfo, but I thought it was interesting.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

This is completely unsubstantiated but someone on Reddit said there are rumours that we currently don’t have enough trains for the east extension, which is the real reason behind the delay. I’m not well enough informed to know if that’s remotely true, and I hope I’m not spreading misinfo, but I thought it was interesting.

OC Transpo has been steadily putting Stage 2 trains into service as they are delivered.

There are approximately 60 vehicles (or 30 paired trains) active in the fleet. Many of them are (evidently) above the 100,000km threshold and are being sidelined until their bearing assemblies can be replaced... but there are more than enough in the fleet, technically available for service, to operate the eastern extension.

[ponyboycurtis]

"Starting Wednesday evening, Line 1 will operate with a combination of single- and double-car trains while maintaining current frequencies. The trains normally have two cars."

When did we stop running single cars? It's been a month or two since I rode line 1 but I am certain my late evening trip was a single car.

So this is getting completely ridiculous. We are supposed to be right on the doorstep of opening the east extension and now this? I can see them delaying the launch indefinitely until this supposed "new" issue is sorted out.

Which would mean.. Alstom needs to deliver hundreds of bearing/bogey/wheel sets in current form to replace while also continuing to engineer a replacement with a more realistic lifespan.

I suppose we have the benefit of the Finch West Line going live and we can see how those vehicles wear. I believe the line is dead straight though. I also think it doesn't go more than 60 kmh based on what I've seen. It also slows down to 35 kmh an hour through intersections even if they have the green light.

Why doesn't Eglinton crosstown use the same vehicle or vice versa? If our mainline/Finch West/Eglinton all used the same rolling stock that would certainly simplify parts acquisition and maintenance/collaboration techniques.

I still think its insane that the areas between Lees and Tremblay / St.Laurant are causing all these problems. I get that the guideway isn't ideal but there has to more to it than that. I often wondered if it would have been helpful for those curves to have the tracks slightly angled. As far as I know they are dead flat.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

"Starting Wednesday evening, Line 1 will operate with a combination of single- and double-car trains while maintaining current frequencies. The trains normally have two cars."

When did we stop running single cars? It's been a month or two since I rode line 1 but I am certain my late evening trip was a single car.

So this is getting completely ridiculous. We are supposed to be right on the doorstep of opening the east extension and now this? I can see them delaying the launch indefinitely until this supposed "new" issue is sorted out.

Which would mean.. Alstom needs to deliver hundreds of bearing/bogey/wheel sets in current form to replace while also continuing to engineer a replacement with a more realistic lifespan.

I suppose we have the benefit of the Finch West Line going live and we can see how those vehicles wear. I believe the line is dead straight though. I also think it doesn't go more than 60 kmh based on what I've seen. It also slows down to 35 kmh an hour through intersections even if they have the green light.

Why doesn't Eglinton crosstown use the same vehicle or vice versa? If our mainline/Finch West/Eglinton all used the same rolling stock that would certainly simplify parts acquisition and maintenance/collaboration techniques.

I still think its insane that the areas between Lees and Tremblay / St.Laurant are causing all these problems. I get that the guideway isn't ideal but there has to more to it than that. I often wondered if it would have been helpful for those curves to have the tracks slightly angled. As far as I know they are dead flat.

I reread the news story from the LRT inquiry a few days ago and Alstom claimed that the track was not installed properly. Was there ever a final conclusion on this?

For the record, REM trains go through similar curves south of Gare Centrale and do not experience the same grinding or slow downs.

Line 5 Eglinton does not use the same trains as Finch West because the trains were selected before Ottawa placed its order. It has been that long under construction. On the other hand, Line 10 in Mississauga will also use the same Alstom trains. Good luck

[SkeggsEggs]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

"Starting Wednesday evening, Line 1 will operate with a combination of single- and double-car trains while maintaining current frequencies. The trains normally have two cars."

When did we stop running single cars? It's been a month or two since I rode line 1 but I am certain my late evening trip was a single car.

the past few times I used it on a weekend it was a single.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by SkeggsEggs

the past few times I used it on a weekend it was a single.

How was it?

I have absolutely no problem with them running singles when the frequency is high and/or the demand is low. In fact, it makes total sense. But if we start running 10 min frequency single trains at rush hour it's probably going to be a nightmare.

Every time one of these problems happens I keep thinking it sucks but at least they will fix it and then we will have a normal functioning system....but it never seems to be the case.

[SkeggsEggs]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

How was it?

reasonably full but not packed. they don't do a great job of making it clear where the train will stop for people not used to the single train service.

I just wish the Saturday frequency was a bit quicker.

I guess they will be forced to run it more frequently once the west extension is opened (in 2029 probably!)

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

"Starting Wednesday evening, Line 1 will operate with a combination of single- and double-car trains while maintaining current frequencies. The trains normally have two cars."

When did we stop running single cars? It's been a month or two since I rode line 1 but I am certain my late evening trip was a single car.

Weekends have continued with single car service, but weekdays have had two-car service for a while now.

Why doesn't Eglinton crosstown use the same vehicle or vice versa? If our mainline/Finch West/Eglinton all used the same rolling stock that would certainly simplify parts acquisition and maintenance/collaboration techniques.

Metrolinx procured the Alstom Citadis as a backstop for Bombardier (now also Alstom) failing to deliver the Flexity vehicles for Eglinton on time.

Eventually vehicle deliveries were no longer the concern... so they allocated the Citadis's to Finch West and Hurontario.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

This is completely unsubstantiated but someone on Reddit said there are rumours that we currently don’t have enough trains for the east extension, which is the real reason behind the delay. I’m not well enough informed to know if that’s remotely true, and I hope I’m not spreading misinfo, but I thought it was interesting.

I saw that comment, someone else swatted it down pretty quickly. They had 34 trains in the fleet when Stage 1 opened, we now see fleet numbers in the 60-70 range on the line regularly. The "Stage 2" trains are integrated into the fleet as they arrive, not sitting in a barn waiting for Stage 2 to open.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I saw that comment, someone else swatted it down pretty quickly. They had 34 trains in the fleet when Stage 1 opened, we now see fleet numbers in the 60-70 range on the line regularly. The "Stage 2" trains are integrated into the fleet as they arrive, not sitting in a barn waiting for Stage 2 to open.

Except for the 3 trains that seem stranded on Moodie. Can someone just push them under the roof for the love of God?!? They've been exposed to the elements and static for months!

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I saw that comment, someone else swatted it down pretty quickly. They had 34 trains in the fleet when Stage 1 opened, we now see fleet numbers in the 60-70 range on the line regularly. The "Stage 2" trains are integrated into the fleet as they arrive, not sitting in a barn waiting for Stage 2 to open.

If that is the case, how do we not have enough trains to maintain service on the existing line while doing repairs? Is it because of testing on the east extension?