Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

A positive we can take out of these reports is that City of Ottawa inspectors seem to be doing a very good job at holding RTG's feet to the fire.

A silver lining is with each failure they have to come up with a remediation plan the city agrees too. Maybe forward progress will be faster then when it was all up to RTG.

[Bytown]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

On the CTV interview this morning, Watson said "if they don't make the 12 days, obviously they have to pay another million dollars". At the 35 second mark. So yes, I guess they will impose it.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1755580

Thank you for sharing!

Another interesting tidbit at 2:38, where the Mayor says OCTranspo will need “2-3 weeks of testing” after the handover. Weren’t they predicting 4?

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

An article from Jon Willing about deficiency reports that were filed between November and March.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...eficiencies-in-lead-up-to-march-deadline

It notes that deficiencies were reported on the performance of switch heaters in winer, installation problems with the OCS, installation problems with security cameras (swaying), and pipe installations undergound.

He tries to make a point of noting that deficiency reports are normal in construction projects, but unfortunately I don't think it'll make a difference in the public perception of the story. It's obviously bad that city inspectors are actually doing their jobs to make sure the system performs like we expect it to because it sounds bad.



Jon Willing has done a really good job in his reporting on the matter, in my opinion.

Here's the whole article:

City inspectors noted problems with LRT switch heaters over two winters, flagged serious deficiencies in lead up to March deadline

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 16, 2019

Just two months before the missed LRT handover in March, city’s inspectors were still finding problems with rail switch heaters not working in ugly winter conditions and receiving a cold shoulder from the builder when it came to mandatory reporting.

Dozens of LRT construction deficiency reports recently released by the city cover the period between Nov. 22, 2018 and March 28, 2019 as the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) was making a push, after missing the previous Nov. 2, 2018 handover, to meet a new handover deadline on March 31.

The current handover deadline arrives on Friday, but even that seems to be up in the air since, as of Thursday, the city hadn’t updated council on the mandatory 12 consecutive days of trial running. Twelve days from the start of the trial actually ended last Friday.

The latest batch of deficiency reports illustrates the challenges RTG and the city have been trying to overcome, even in the weeks ahead of a handover deadline.

According to the Confederation Line “non-conformance” reports filed in the project database, sharp-eyed city inspectors last winter were still finding problems with the switch heaters, overhead wire system, surveillance cameras and central controls, eventually leading to the city’s announcing on March 5 that the March 31 handover wasn’t going to happen.

A Feb. 7 report describes how the city in winter 2018 “expressed concern on the effectiveness of switch heaters to prevent ice and snow from building up and immobilizing the switch points and switch rods,” and how the switch heater installer found installation issues with all 26 heaters on the main line, with RTG taking “corrective actions.”

“Despite these corrective actions, the switch heaters, at numerous turnouts, continue to experience challenges during heavy snow fall event (sic),” the report says.

The city told RTG about 50 instances of switch heaters not functioning properly between Nov. 13, 2018 and Jan. 19, 2019.

“These repeated occurrences of switch heater effectiveness could be an indication of more fundamental issues with the equipment type and/or installation,” the report says.

By March, the city publicly stated that winter operations would be enhanced and more resources would be dedicated to winter maintenance of the LRT system, especially to handle the amount of snow Ottawa typically receives.

On Thursday, O-Train construction director Michael Morgan said in an email sent through the communications department: “The city is presently reviewing the documentation for the remedial work undertaken by Rideau Transit Group to verify that the switch heaters will function as required moving forward.”

City inspectors found some other troubling deficiencies with LRT construction over the winter.

A Feb. 22 report drew attention to the installation of the overhead catenary system after visual inspections revealed there were improper connections between anchor rods and concrete piers. Also, there were other instances “where the concrete pier had been chipped, damaged or showing concrete that is deteriorating,” the report says.

(This newspaper has reported on other non-conformance reports warning about the quality of concrete on the LRT project).

Another February report says the balance weights as part of the overhead wire tensioning system “were not installed correctly.”

The city also believed the builder didn’t install enough insulation on the overhead catenary system between wires and supporting structures. Either provide technical justification for the construction or apply to change the contract wording, the city told RTG in one report.

There’s evidence in the reports that the city was concerned RTG could not run trains on a single track with 15-minute headways in the event of a rail disruption, as contracted. A Jan. 9 report says that, at the time of that inspection, there could be no service between two stations in the event of a track obstruction.

According to Morgan, “the city is currently waiting on a final test report from RTG to close” the non-conformance report on single-track operations.

The city was keeping an eye on the installation of surveillance cameras system, too.

On Jan. 21, a city inspector noted in a report the “swaying” cameras at Tunney’s Pasture and Pimisi stations, causing motion blur in the footage.

“There is also concern that city security staff tasked to monitor or review video footage from those cameras will be subject to motion sickness or similar discomforts,” the report says.

On March 6, a city inspector discovered that closed-circuit television cameras had several blind spots and weren’t providing adequate security coverage. In one case, a sign was blocking a camera from displaying an entire station platform.

The deficiency reports suggest the city has struggled to collect necessary documentation from RTG.

On Feb. 22, the city reported that RTG failed to produce an asset management plan 60 days in advance of the March 31 handover date. The consortium was contractually obligated to send the plan to the city in that time.

In the last days of January, the city wasn’t seeing test results on central controls for the emergency ventilation system for some stations, or proof that the emergency braking system could be operated from the control centre. The city at that time also didn’t receive test procedures for what happens if there’s a failure on the LRT system.

On top of that, RTG had 10 days to resubmit work plans on project elements when city rejected a plan, but a March 28 report says the city in five instances didn’t receive submissions within the time frame or even receive extension requests from RTG.

Asked if RTG has satisfied its reporting requirements, Morgan said: “The city has been working diligently with RTG to address any outstanding (non-conformance reports) in advance of the revenue service availability.”

City inspectors were busy in January.

They found several gaps in protective fencing (they filed 70 pictures in January) and places where the fence wasn’t high enough. They discovered that event recorders were unable to collect complete data about brake cylinder pressure on trains. And, inspectors realized the builder didn’t use pipe sleeves to run plumbing through underground stations, contrary to the contract, raising questions about what would happen if one of those pipes leaks.

In a February report, a city inspector couldn’t understand why RTG would replace steel barriers with a chain-link fence at the Lees Avenue overpass. The steel barriers are a safety feature that prevent out-of-control cars from tumbling onto the tracks.

The city and RTG quarrelled in one February report over the supply of emergency power.

The city accused RTG of “exploiting the interpretation” of the contract when it comes to supplying uninterrupted power during an outage in some underground stations. In the report, RTG defended its method of providing backup power, prompting the city to demand evidence that RTG is “professionally satisfied” that backup power will last long enough for emergency services to rescue passengers.

Non-conformance reporting is a regular part of construction project management. RTG inspectors and city inspectors can file reports on deficiencies. There have been a total of 882 reports logged on the LRT project so far.

Almost all of the non-conformance reports created between Nov. 13, 2018 and Jan. 19, 2019 were filed by the city inspection team.

Access expert Ken Rubin won a ruling from the provincial information and privacy commissioner last year that forced the city to release LRT non-conformance reports when requested. The city was fine with the documents’ going public, but RTG wasn’t and blocked their release, so Rubin appealed to the information commissioner.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...eficiencies-in-lead-up-to-march-deadline

[Badyouken]

From Jon Willing:

It sounds like, based what the mayor said today, the city will hold that briefing next week for council and reporters and then go for a train ride.

[lrt's friend]

With trains departing from two different platforms at Tunney's Pasture, will there be a departure countdown on display screens? No sense running down to one platform, just to have go back up and go over to the other platform. That will be a pain. I know I experienced that with the Trillium Line at Greenboro that could have been avoided if I had known the train was departing in 10 seconds instead of 1 minute.

[Badyouken]

Originally Posted by Bytown

Thank you for sharing!

Another interesting tidbit at 2:38, where the Mayor says OCTranspo will need “2-3 weeks of testing” after the handover. Weren’t they predicting 4?

I think they usually said it would take "up to 4 weeks", perhaps to be on the safe side.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

With trains departing from two different platforms at Tunney's Pasture, will there be a departure countdown on display screens? No sense running down to one platform, just to have go back up and go over to the other platform. That will be a pain. I know I experienced that with the Trillium Line at Greenboro that could have been avoided if I had known the train was departing in 10 seconds instead of 1 minute.

I don't know if they have that, but I'm puzzled as to why they didn't built centre platforms at all terminus stations. Tunney's, Bayview (Trillum at least), Moodie. Prepare for years of confusion at those stations.

At least they got it right for Blair, Trim, Baseline, South Keys and Limebank.

Originally Posted by Badyouken

I think they usually said it would take "up to 4 weeks", perhaps to be on the safe side.

That's the usual message. I don't know if they're more confident now or if they want to rush for a September opening.

[J.OT13]

On 1310 News with Mark Sutcliffe, 9-10 am, the Mayor said (9 minute mark) that he "believes very strongly that they will be able to announce the end of testing later next week" and that they will have a full technical briefing on testing and announce the launch date. He also said that RTG "will have to pay the million dollar fine".

https://www.1310news.com/audio/ottawa-today/

[Gat-Train]

Took the 62 on Wednesday to St Laurent. A train (1103 and 1125 coupled together) passed the bus around Bayview. As the 62 pulled into Hurdman, I saw the same train pulling out of Hurdman. So LRT is only about 2 minutes faster than post-transitway BRT between Bayview and Hurdman. It's worth noting that the 62 skips Campus and Lees, but still, I was hoping for a somewhat faster new system.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Gat-Train

Took the 62 on Wednesday to St Laurent. A train (1103 and 1125 coupled together) passed the bus around Bayview. As the 62 pulled into Hurdman, I saw the same train pulling out of Hurdman. So LRT is only about 2 minutes faster than post-transitway BRT between Bayview and Hurdman. It's worth noting that the 62 skips Campus and Lees, but still, I was hoping for a somewhat faster new system.

I compared the speed of the train vs buses through the downtown using O-Train Fans' video (tunnel portal to portal) and OC Transpo's travel planner (LeBreton Station to Laurier Station and vis-versa). The train goes through the tunnel in about 5.5 minutes, which should be consistent at all times, while the travel planner varied (depending on route and direction) between 6 minutes and 10 minutes, and that would be under ideal conditions. Throw in snow, rain, hail, idiots blocking the bus lane, parades, protest... and that could increase significantly.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Gat-Train

Took the 62 on Wednesday to St Laurent. A train (1103 and 1125 coupled together) passed the bus around Bayview. As the 62 pulled into Hurdman, I saw the same train pulling out of Hurdman. So LRT is only about 2 minutes faster than post-transitway BRT between Bayview and Hurdman. It's worth noting that the 62 skips Campus and Lees, but still, I was hoping for a somewhat faster new system.

How was traffic through the core when you took it?

Of course, most of the gains in speed will be during rush hour, and the most important gain is in throughput.

[Gat-Train]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

How was traffic through the core when you took it?

Of course, most of the gains in speed will be during rush hour, and the most important gain is in throughput.

It was the middle of the day, so traffic was pretty good.

Of course I realize that improved reliability, consistency and throughput is what matters. But if we really want to boost ridership, a significant speed boost would do it.

[AR-OTT]

Originally Posted by Gat-Train

Took the 62 on Wednesday to St Laurent. A train (1103 and 1125 coupled together) passed the bus around Bayview. As the 62 pulled into Hurdman, I saw the same train pulling out of Hurdman. So LRT is only about 2 minutes faster than post-transitway BRT between Bayview and Hurdman. It's worth noting that the 62 skips Campus and Lees, but still, I was hoping for a somewhat faster new system.

What was time of day?

[Corvulpes]

a

[Badyouken]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

On 1310 News with Mark Sutcliffe, 9-10 am, the Mayor said (9 minute mark) that he "believes very strongly that they will be able to announce the end of testing later next week" and that they will have a full technical briefing on testing and announce the launch date. He also said that RTG "will have to pay the million dollar fine".

https://www.1310news.com/audio/ottawa-today/

Strong language from the Mayor.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

With trains departing from two different platforms at Tunney's Pasture, will there be a departure countdown on display screens? No sense running down to one platform, just to have go back up and go over to the other platform. That will be a pain. I know I experienced that with the Trillium Line at Greenboro that could have been avoided if I had known the train was departing in 10 seconds instead of 1 minute.

They do have screens at the top of the stairs, with countdowns and which platform the next two trains are leaving at. You can see them very clearly at the entrance, and they also have a continuous audio announcement going (expect to be annoyed if you have to stand there any length of time)

[rocketphish]

RTG misses fourth LRT deadline; mayor eyes next week for handover

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 16, 2019

The Rideau Transit Group missed a fourth deadline Friday to hand over a completed $2.1-billion LRT system to the City of Ottawa, but Mayor Jim Watson believes the Confederation Line will be ready within days.

“While the handover won’t take place today, I feel very confident that it will take place later next week,” Watson said Friday.

The mayor plans to lead a briefing next week for council and reporters to get details about the testing process and the handover. The exact date of the briefing hasn’t been announced.

“And we’ll also be able to take a train ride,” Watson said, “and we’ll be able to announce the specific date in September when the public will finally have access to these amazing vehicles and this system that will be a game-changer for our city.”

RTG achieved the “substantial completion” milestone on July 27. Two days later, the consortium started a 12-consecutive-day trial run of the LRT system, something that’s required under the contract before a handover can happen.

The trial running has lasted 19 days as of Friday.

The Aug. 16 “revenue service availability,” which is the handover language in the contract, was announced on July 10.

On Friday, Watson said there was a “general consensus” from RTG, the city and the project’s independent certifier that they couldn’t sign off revenue service availability. All three parties have been overseeing the trial running and it’s ultimately up to the certifier to say if RTG has met the handover requirements.

Every missed handover deadline comes with a $1-million penalty for RTG. The consortium missed Friday’s handover, so that means the city can add the penalty to the ones applied to previous missed handovers on May 24, 2018, Nov. 2, 2018 and March 31, 2019.

Watson said there aren’t major problems holding up the LRT handover, although the city hasn’t disclosed exactly what has prevented RTG from achieving revenue service availability.

If the mayor is right and the city receives the LRT system next week, OC Transpo will need up to four weeks to prepare the 13-station, 12.5-kilometre rail line for the public in September.

Even when the city receives the LRT system, there will be outstanding questions about how it will operate.

For example, the trains haven’t been loaded with people to replicate real-life transit scenarios, with customers navigating crowded stations at rush hours and transferring between LRT and buses.

There are still questions about how the Confederation Line will handle Ottawa’s winter. For example, the city was still noticing problems with rail switch heaters last winter. Switches guide trains between sets of tracks and heavy snow can impact their performance.

RTG’s maintenance program during heavy snow and ice will involve running trains without passengers overnight to keep the tracks and overhead wires clear.

Watson said he’s “very confident” the LRT system will work in the winter, largely because the maintenance affiliate of RTG has a 30-year contract to make sure the rail system is working in all seasons. He added that the Alstom trains operate in other international cities with winter climates. The Alstom Citadis Spirit trains were specifically designed for the City of Ottawa.

The current trial-running program is testing all elements of the LRT system, including the service frequencies expected by the city. At rush hours, 15 double-car trains should be arriving at stations every five minutes or less. There are also requirements for the system to be functioning when only one set of tracks are available between stations because of unexpected maintenance.

As of Friday, the LRT system was 450 days late, going back to the first handover date in the contract, May 24, 2018.

Watson said he understands why residents are anxious for their new transit line to open.

“I think there still is a very high level of excitement that people do want this system and they want the system to work well,” Watson said. “My goal continues to be, whatever system is handed over to us is as flawless as possible.”

The first phase of the Confederation Line will run between Tunney’s Pasture Station and Blair Station via a 2.5-kilometre downtown tunnel. City council awarded the construction contract to RTG in December 2012.

RTG’s main corporate partners are ACS Infrastructure, EllisDon and SNC-Lavalin.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/lrt-deadline-day-is-here-again

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Gat-Train

Took the 62 on Wednesday to St Laurent. A train (1103 and 1125 coupled together) passed the bus around Bayview. As the 62 pulled into Hurdman, I saw the same train pulling out of Hurdman. So LRT is only about 2 minutes faster than post-transitway BRT between Bayview and Hurdman. It's worth noting that the 62 skips Campus and Lees, but still, I was hoping for a somewhat faster new system.

Yes, and we have to consider that the buses have been detoured since the Transitway closed. I am surprised with your observation. I would have thought that buses would be slower with all the traffic signals downtown even in the middle of the day. However, from my observations with the Trillium Line over the years, buses on the SE Transitway are consistently faster and since the 2016 'improvement', buses are now much faster.

I remember Larry O'Brien saying we would save 15 minutes on every trip. Happily that nonsense has gone the way of the Dodo.

As others have said, it is the reliability that will be the main benefit. If we save a few minutes, that is all we can expect. Except downtown, the Transitway was amazingly efficient.

[rocketphish]

Noisy LRT has Mechanicsville residents asking the city to hush it

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 16, 2019


Lorrie Marlow, president of the Mechanicsville Community Association

LRT is too noisy for people who live near the rail trench between Tunney’s Pasture and Bayview stations.

The Mechanicsville Community Association says it’s collecting complaints from residents about the noise coming from the test running of the trains in the area.

It might be a quiet ride for passengers inside the electrified trains, but the sound coming from the wheels running over the rails tends to travel. In the Mechanicsville-Hintonburg area, the train travels in the old Transitway trench, which amplifies the sound.

The Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has been running its full fleet of Alstom trains on a regular basis in recent weeks as it tests the LRT system.

At peak times, trains will arrive at stations every five minutes or less. Fifteen double-car trains will run on the rail line at the busiest hours. Trains will run as early as 5 a.m. at the start of the operating day and as late as 2 a.m.

In a letter to the city posted on its website, the community association said residents couldn’t enjoy the outdoors, even from their balconies, because of the loud LRT. The letter also says it has become a health and safety issue if people are walking on the paths at night and can’t hear what’s going on around them or if people are simply trying to sleep. The community association also warns there could be an impact on property values.

The association says a low-income seniors residence is next to the LRT line and the seniors can’t enjoy their amenity space and socialize because they can’t hear each other over the train noise.

The “whisper quiet” promise of the trains isn’t the reality, says the group, which is calling on the city to complete more noise tests and continue monitoring.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper on Friday confirmed that the trains were “unacceptably loud” in some areas, particularly around Parkdale Avenue, where there’s a high-rise residential building, Parkdale Terrace.

Leiper said he had been working since April with rail bosses at the city about the noise and they would first try grinding the rails, which is a common maintenance technique for train systems. Leiper said he brought transportation general manager John Manconi to the site to gauge the noise.

“The city has acknowledged it’s too loud,” Leiper said, but he noted the sound levels were within LRT contract parameters.

If the rail grinding doesn’t quiet the trains, the city could install dampeners on the rails to absorb the sound, Leiper said.

The rail grinding could be done in short order, but it would take longer to install dampeners.

When Mechanicsville residents living in properties right next to the tracks were approached Friday, almost all townhouse residents said the noise didn’t bother them.

“It doesn’t bother me; the cars make more noise than that,” said Marc Cherfils, who lives on ground level a stone’s throw from the tracks, adding the noise was worse when he lived in Toronto and Montreal.

Ida Gabriele, a neighbourhood resident for 22 years, said she noticed the noise in the first week of testing, “but after that you get used to it” and it didn’t bother her when she was inside.

However, Lorrie Marlow, the community association president and author of the letter, says the greatest problem is for residents on upper floors of highrises.

Marlow said she found that the noise echoed or reverberated through the sunken trench where the trains go, causing a disturbance for residents with balconies overlooking the track.

“The fact that we are on such a busy corner, and we’ve had buses on here forever that never bothered us like this sound bothers us,” Marlow said. “It’s such an unusual and different noise, the peaks of it and the times that it happens. I think it’s definitely disturbing.”

RTG failed to hand over the completed LRT line by its deadline Friday. The city believes the handover will happen next week ahead of a possible public launch in September.

“The question is, do you delay the opening of LRT until you (fix the noise)?” Leiper said, but he was not asking for a further delay to the project, which is 450 days late.

“All I’m looking for is a commitment to fix the problem.”

If the rail grinding and sound dampeners don’t work, the city will have to consider installing noise barriers, Leiper said.

The city will want to find a solution since the Stage 2 LRT extension west of Tunney’s Pasture will continue in the Transitway trench until the rail line reaches a tunnel near the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The trench west of Tunney’s Pasture passes through Champlain Park, Westboro Beach and Westboro.

Leiper agreed the city needed to find a solution before the trains ran farther west.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...lle-residents-asking-the-city-to-hush-it

[Gat-Train]

I'm calling BS. I have biked right next to the train line between Lees and UOttawa. The noise from the trains is nothing compared to the diesel buses. If it's really that much of an issue, then hopefully someday we can just bury the line, and kill two birds with one stone, as we'd reconnect a split neighbourhood.