LRT contractor needs maintenance advice after receiving tough lesson on winter upkeep
Snow is at times jamming the track switches and the switch heaters don't seem to be having the expected melting effect.
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: January 24, 2020
Winter is so far taking a toll on the new Confederation Line as the city’s LRT contractor calls in help to provide advice on how to better maintain Ottawa’s $2.1-billion rail system.
Peter Lauch, the chief executive of Rideau Transit Maintenance, which is the maintenance arm of builder Rideau Transit Group (RTG), told the transit commission Thursday the company doesn’t have trouble with winter operations.
However, some transit commissioners and councillors didn’t believe it after learning more about the problems plaguing the LRT system.
Snow is at times jamming the track switches and the switch heaters don’t seem to be having the expected melting effect. RTG and OC Transpo quickly learned during the heavy snowfall last weekend that snow and ice could play havoc with LRT switch infrastructure, leading to train delays. Switches enable trains to move between tracks.
It’s been a week from hell for Ottawa’s transit customers who rely on LRT.
The eastern stretch shut down for an afternoon commute when an overhead wire was pulled down by a train.
Maintenance delays have removed some Alstom Citadis Spirit trains from peak-period service this week. At one point, there were eight trains delivering service during one of the busiest service times. There should be 13 trains on the 12.5-kilometre line at the peak hours.
Transit commission chair Allan Hubley was compelled to call a special meeting for city management and RTG to explain why LRT service has been so bad.
The city is critical of RTG’s maintenance capabilities and has been holding back monthly payments to the company.
John Manconi, the city’s transportation general manager, said RTG needs “more experienced railroaders” in Ottawa maintaining the Confederation Line.
RTG is paying to bring in JBA Corp., whose experts have already been advising the city on LRT, to review the maintenance program and make changes to improve it.
The severe train shortages have forced Transpo to redirect supplemental bus service during the morning and afternoon peak periods. The special bus service will run until at least Jan. 31.
The city confirmed one important fact: all 34 LRT vehicles were Day 1 ready when the city accepted the rail system last summer and all 34 have been put into revenue service at various times. (The vehicles are coupled to make full trains).
City and RTG officials explained why so many trains weren’t leaving the maintenance facility lately.
One train was out of commission because of the overhead wire pull-down near St. Laurent Station last week. Another train had a problem with a compressor that helps level the vehicle.
Then, numerous trains had to be pulled because of flat spots on the steel wheels, which isn’t unusual in train operations but the maintenance contractor has had trouble keeping up with the time-consuming fixes using a wheel lathe.
Michael Morgan, the city’s rail construction director, said there needs to be a root-cause investigation to see why so many wheel flats have been happening lately.
LRT has been unreliable for much of the four months the transit system has been operating.
Service delays haven’t hurt Transpo’s ridership numbers so far, though.
According to Manconi, the December 2019 ridership was up 3.2 per cent compared with December 2018 and the year-over-year increase is 0.2 per cent.
Transit commissioners and councillors asked detailed questions about how the LRT system works, trying to uncover problems that might be obvious to a layperson.
There were several questions comparing the Confederation Line with the trusty Trillium Line.
Coun. Catherine McKenney asked several questions comparing the LRT line with the Trillium Line, noting that the older north-south railway doesn’t seem to have the same problems with train wheels.
Transpo operations director Troy Charter said he couldn’t remember a time a train was removed from service because of wheel flats.
Coun. Stephen Blais asked about the track switches on the Trillium Line and why the railway doesn’t have the same problems. Charter said the maintainers make sure the right resources are available to clear the switches in the winter.
The commission meeting, which started at 2 p.m., stretched into the early evening hours with members continually appearing astounded about the maintenance problems.
“I’m not entirely sure this is normal,” citizen commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert said at one point.
“I don’t think we could have anticipated some of these issues,” Lauch said later. “I think we could have reacted to them better.”
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