Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

There is a reason why Montreal pulled up all there streetcars in 1959 and a few years later were building a 100% underground subway.

Seriously...?

Nevermind the Deux-Montagnes line that used catenary lines for over 100 years, or now even the REM.

Montreal pulled up its streetcars for the same reason most other cities did.

[OTSkyline]

It seems like every weather event is now "unique", this excuse can't be used for long. How many times has the system failed and broken down or closed in the past 12 months? Is OC Transpo keeping track of these and comparing vs. previous years? Seems like it's only getting worst.

And just as I had predicted, heard on the radio yesterday evening that the line was partially shut down yesterday as there were stuck trains between Rideau and Hurdman or something.. This is becoming a real joke.

[SidetrackedSue]

From one of the articles:

It’s also searching for a non-electric powered vehicle that can be used to tow stuck trains when electrical power on the line is lost.

I was assured that this would not have helped at all, when I raised this in the past on social media. "Expert" posters completely shot down what I'll admit was a gut feeling based on common sense.

BTW: they also said part of the problem was a power outage so the trains weren't running so weren't clearing the ice as it built up in another section. The non-electric vehicle could be dispatched in those conditions as well with an ice clearing device in order to keep the lines operational for when the power comes back.

[OTownandDown]

Seems weird to me in today's day-and-age that the pantograph doesn't just 'turn off' the flow of electrical and become a neutral ice-beater when it detects heavy arcing, and that there isn't a small battery pack that can push the train a few hundred meters without receiving overhead power. Wouldn't that help during ice-build-up events?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lr...storm-transit-commission-hears-1.6742830

Edit, or that the 'diesel' pushers aren't actually just large battery packs to plug into the train so the train AND the pusher can push itself out of a jam. There are plenty of options that don't include requiring the overhead electrical. Just someone call Elon and figure it out. 10 stacked 70kwh batteries on train bogies should be enough to push the trains all the way back home from anywhere on the line.

[Kitchissippi]

Parts of the surface Metro line in Mexico City are roofed over despite being snow and ice free: https://www.google.ca/maps/@19.4421455,-...bBU-Z5Dd0zQ72g6yfOQ0Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 Can't a similar but maybe more attractive method be utilized in Ottawa, possibly even putting solar panels on the roof?

[lrt's friend]

It seems to me that while icing can be a serious issue, other problems are more frequent. We need something, whether diesel or not, than can get disabled trains moved off the line and back to the maintenance yard quickly, to minimize service interruptions.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

It seems like every weather event is now "unique", this excuse can't be used for long.

Yes and no. Climate change does exacerbate weather extremes. And this in no small part what we're seeing. They should have accounted for this in their design. It needed to be built to much more robust standards. They didn't. It will be interesting to see how the REM fares.

[rocketphish]

Where's the accountability for Ottawa's ongoing LRT disaster?
This week’s fresh transit hell was water gushing into the tunnel at Rideau Station, causing weary commuters, once again, to sardine themselves onto R1 buses.

Brigitte Pellerin
Published Feb 10, 2023 • 3 minute read

Few things send you to the dictionary faster than Ottawa’s light rail. The news that we (collectively) settled with the LRT consortium to give it millions in back pay and that we were locking ourselves in to a decades-long billion-dollar maintenance contract had me darting to ye olden bookcase to look up the word “accountability.” Now I have thoughts.

Many details of the settlement remain secret. Why would we ever think that being informed about such a massively important and expensive taxpayer-funded project was any of our business? Maybe I should research “public,” too, while I’m at it.

Lucky for me I don’t need to look into the origins and uses of the word “sarcasm.”

Am I the only one who’s fit to be tied around here? Not a week goes by without some kind of disaster plaguing the LRT. It’s been more than three years of our bespoke train system not working as advertised. Remember when people broke it by touching the doors? It’s gotten worse since.

This week’s fresh hell was water gushing into the tunnel at Rideau Station, causing weary commuters, once again, to sardine themselves onto R1 buses for a long, painful and much slower ride. The only silver lining about this latest disaster is that the leak occurred after historic deep-freeze temperatures had come and gone. Imagine the nightmare at -35 C.

It’s an incredibly expensive misadventure we’re having, and I don’t just mean the financial costs, even though those are pretty impressive (and not in a good way, either). However many billions we’re at, it’s nothing compared to how expensive the shattering of public confidence is, not just with regards to the benefits of transit but in the way we are governing ourselves in this town.

Why are most of the folks stuck with the bill the very people who are riding the LRT and spending more than $100 a month for the privilege? (Be right back, I have to put the dictionary back on its shelf; it’s trying to punch me.)

Why, not to put too fine a point on it, didn’t we see heads roll at the executive level over this square-wheeled monster of stalled and derailed dreams?

Accountability means accepting responsibility for one’s actions. Accepting responsibility means bearing the cost of same. As far as I can tell, the only person who may have felt pain is former city manager Steve Kanellakos, who resigned days ahead of a provincial report that might have pushed him out. This isn’t remotely close to accountability.

What we need, even more than accountability, is honour. It’s rarer than a day of fully functional and reliable OC Transpo service. Honour, integrity, intellectual honesty, probity — those are qualities we seldom see in office. We see it in candidates before they’re elected, and also in retired politicians once they’re safely out of office. But while they’re sitting, for some reason, all those principles often go out the window.

Call me radical, but we need to find a way to make it so painful for office-holders not to do what they promised that they have no choice but to do what they promised. We need to demand better, and insist on getting it. Politicians and big corporate executives who don’t live up to their commitments should not keep their jobs. In their place we should have people who don’t need to be watched all the time, because they wouldn’t dream of not delivering what they promised.

Also? We need public projects to be done in a way that is transparent, honest and honourable. It’s critical both to ensuring we get what we got into a contract for, and to restoring public confidence in office-holders and the institutions of governance in which they work.

We need to know and believe that the people who represent us, and those we do business with, are concerned with doing the right thing no matter what, instead of being consumed by the need to find the largest bunch of trapped victims to take advantage of. My dictionary calls that “unfair.”

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/peller...ability-for-ottawas-ongoing-lrt-disaster

[lrt's friend]

It has just been announced on CTV news that the Confed Line was closed again between Rideau and St. Laurent stations. Service east bound has just been restored. I don't know what that means. Service can't be only one way. I expect that full service is in the process of being restored.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Parts of the surface Metro line in Mexico City are roofed over despite being snow and ice free: https://www.google.ca/maps/@19.4421455,-...bBU-Z5Dd0zQ72g6yfOQ0Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 Can't a similar but maybe more attractive method be utilized in Ottawa, possibly even putting solar panels on the roof?

By all means it should be possible to use catenary lines in an environment like Ottawa. Montreal has for years (as I said earlier on this page). We shouldn't need to resort to measures like this to address it, and frankly if we do then we haven't addressed the root of the issue.

Mexico didn't have as much of a choice with that particular covered section. Rubber tires on a steep incline + rain do not mix well, and unlike catenary lines there isn't really a fix for that.

[rocketphish]

Broken equipment causes Friday evening service disruption on LRT system, transportation GM says
Reports [sic] were expected to be completed overnight.

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 10, 2023 • Last updated 55 minutes ago • 1 minute read

There was another equipment-related disruption of LRT service in Ottawa on Friday evening.

A memo to the mayor and members of city council from Renée Amilcar, the general manager of the transit services department, said an arm supporting the wire in the Overhead Catenary System — it’s called a parafil — broke near Lees Station.

Trains were able to come to a safe stop at the station, the memo said, adding that other riders on a train near Lees Station were able to safely exit the train to make their way back to the platform.

R1 replacement bus service ran for approximately one hour between St-Laurent and Rideau stations, while trains continued to operate from Tunney’s Pasture to uOttawa Station in the west and from Blair to Tremblay stations in the east.

Eventually trains resumed operations on the full LRT system from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair, but they were using just one track — normally the eastbound line — at Hurdman, Lees and uOttawa stations for the rest of the evening.

Rideau Transit Maintenance was expected to fix the parafil overnight, when the LRT does not operate, Amilcar’s memo said, adding it was anticipated that repairs would be completed in time for service from all platforms at the start of operations on Saturday morning.

“We want to reassure customers that the issue of repeated problems with the parafils is of utmost concern to OC Transpo,” the memo said. “The parafils have undergone inspections and added protection to address previous failure occurrences. We are actively seeking alternatives to this product for Line 1. The Stage 2 extensions of the O-Train are designed with a different OCS support configuration that does not include parafils.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ion-on-lrt-system-transportation-gm-says

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by SidetrackedSue

From one of the articles:



I was assured that this would not have helped at all, when I raised this in the past on social media. "Expert" posters completely shot down what I'll admit was a gut feeling based on common sense.

BTW: they also said part of the problem was a power outage so the trains weren't running so weren't clearing the ice as it built up in another section. The non-electric vehicle could be dispatched in those conditions as well with an ice clearing device in order to keep the lines operational for when the power comes back.

Good Day.

and those "expert" were talking out their A**..... most yards and rail operations of ALL sizes use hustlers and line switchers for maintenance work.
The fact that we use -production- rolling stock for maint work speaks to a failure of service to the customer by putting more valuable vehicles at risk..... as we have seen.
This is exactly what non-pr0duction maint vehicles are for - to save the vehicles.
They would also save time - while on the way, the coupler shroud on the disabled vehicle can be getting removed in preparation, and not have to wait the time the shroud on the 'tow' vehicle is being removed once on scene.

trust your gut - you know more than they ever will.... and more than many of the actual contracted or hired 'experts' if our results are to be judged. <snort>

And yes, many operations do keep running vehicles on non-revenue time to assist in keeping the line operational,
but.... there does reach a point when more comprehensive measures are necessary, and heavier duty maint vehicles can be inserted into the mix.

<sigh>

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Seems weird to me in today's day-and-age that the pantograph doesn't just 'turn off' the flow of electrical and become a neutral ice-beater when it detects heavy arcing, and that there isn't a small battery pack that can push the train a few hundred meters without receiving overhead power. Wouldn't that help during ice-build-up events?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lr...storm-transit-commission-hears-1.6742830

Edit, or that the 'diesel' pushers aren't actually just large battery packs to plug into the train so the train AND the pusher can push itself out of a jam. There are plenty of options that don't include requiring the overhead electrical. Just someone call Elon and figure it out. 10 stacked 70kwh batteries on train bogies should be enough to push the trains all the way back home from anywhere on the line.

Good Day.

We were supposed to get batteries sufficient to move no-OCS stalled vehicles to the nearest station - avoiding =inconvenience= <danger, difficulties> to the trapped customers.

-another Jimmy cost-cutter sacrifice-

battery packs as you speak would be more expensive than a plain old line hustler to get out and tow, and same time in getting to scene and to work - no extra time cost to connect the power feed.

<sigh>

[eltodesukane]

Vancouver SKYTRAIN END-TO-END RIDE:
EXPO LINE WESTBOUND Early Afternoon, Fall 2019
approaching New Westminster Station

>> good frequency: one train going out, 1min later another coming in...

https://youtu.be/BdNyUUh2MWE?t=798

[SidetrackedSue]

Originally Posted by PHrenetic

Good Day.

We were supposed to get batteries sufficient to move no-OCS stalled vehicles to the nearest station - avoiding =inconvenience= <danger, difficulties> to the trapped customers.


<sigh>

You are completely ignoring the advantage to being a passenger stuck on a stopped train on the line as opposed to a passenger stuck on a held train at the station.

Trains in a station keep their doors open so the passengers are exposed to the elements (or smell if at Rideau). Trains stopped on the line have their doors shut, keeping the passengers more comfortable, especially on extremely cold or hot days.

As well, those on the track can wait seated, (given the current # of pax) without any confusion; there are no decisions to make.

Pax in the station have to decide whether they should stay on that train, follow the instructions to move to another train in the station and then watch their first train leave, or exit the station and stand outside in the elements waiting for R1 service to start so they are assured a chance to be on the first bus to show up.

Not getting the trains to the station is a benefit./s

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by SidetrackedSue

You are completely ignoring the advantage to being a passenger stuck on a stopped train on the line as opposed to a passenger stuck on a held train at the station.

Trains in a station keep their doors open so the passengers are exposed to the elements (or smell if at Rideau). Trains stopped on the line have their doors shut, keeping the passengers more comfortable, especially on extremely cold or hot days.

As well, those on the track can wait seated, (given the current # of pax) without any confusion; there are no decisions to make.

Pax in the station have to decide whether they should stay on that train, follow the instructions to move to another train in the station and then watch their first train leave, or exit the station and stand outside in the elements waiting for R1 service to start so they are assured a chance to be on the first bus to show up.

Not getting the trains to the station is a benefit./s

This is a such a Canadian response. Yes better to be stuck and have no choice to get off than have to make a tough decision. The door thing is annoying but that's a choice also. Doors can open on demand should someone arrive to board.

[rocketphish]

Issues that caused LRT derailment still 'pose a risk to safety': TSB report
Transportation Safety Board finds issues from August 2021 and July 2022 likely due to design ordered by city

Joanne Chianello · CBC
Posted: Feb 15, 2023 1:41 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

The problems that caused an August 2021 derailment and a component failure in July 2022 on Ottawa's light rail system "continue to pose a risk to safety until the issues are resolved," the Transportation Safety Board says.

In a letter to city officials dated Feb. 3, 2023, Vincenzo De Angelis, the board's director of rail investigations, says the failure of the cartridge assemblies that caused the derailment is likely due to the actual design of the Alstom Citadis Spirit vehicle — a design the city requested.

Ottawa was the first city to ever use the Citadis Spirit, a winterized version of the French train-maker's Citadis model, which has worked reliably in other parts of the world, according to the the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).

But the Citadis Spirit built for the Confederation Line "has had numerous reliability issues and experienced two serious main-track derailments since it commenced operations," the safety inspector wrote.

That's despite the fact Ottawa's trains are equipped with the same cartridge assembly as other Citadis trains.

Instead, the TSB believes it's the specific design requested by the city that is part of the problem. Ottawa ordered up a train that would transport more people, at higher speeds, than is usual for light rail vehicles.

During last year's LRT public inquiry, Alstom executives testified the trains the city ordered did not exist yet — there was a prototype — and were pushing the limits of what a light rail vehicle could do. Alstom even designed a new undercarriage, or bogie, for Ottawa's system that was similar to those used for the New York subway system.

The TSB found that the motion used in Ottawa's light rail vehicles produces more torque and accelerates more quickly than the original Citadis, and frequent stops and starts could lead to quicker wear and tear of a number of components.

"The City of Ottawa may wish to ensure that all parties involved in the OLRT undertaking work together to resolve design, operational, and maintenance risks to safety as they emerge," wrote De Angelis of the TSB.

He repeated the TSB's request that the city and Rideau Transit Group install on-board monitoring systems "to protect the travelling public."

The TSB can only recommend that the city make changes to its rail operations.

"The safety of transit customers is paramount," the city's transit general manager Renée Amilcar wrote in a memo to council members Wednesday afternoon.

She stated the city has already undertaken a number of measures to "ensure that the trains and system are safe," including:

• Daily inspections of all light rail vehicles before service launch by Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM).
• Reducing the speed of trains at several locations along the track.
• Replacing "all leading and trailing bogie axles" after 175,000 kilometres of service, and inspecting bearing assemblies every 7,500 kilometres. The TSB says an axle assembly should last 1.2 million kilometres.
• All other axles are inspected every 3,750 kilometres when they have travelled more than 175,000 kilometres.

Amilcar also wrote "RTG has installed vibration monitoring equipment on some trains and plans to expand the installation on additional vehicles in the coming months."

Although the TSB report shines some light on some of the potential problems with the LRT vehicles, a fuller root cause analysis of what caused the August 2021 derailment — and what could have caused another one in July 2022 — is not complete.

The inquiry heard from a number of witnesses that there could be a misalignment of the train wheels to the Confederation Line track that may have caused the first of two derailments last year. Inquiry commissioner Justice William Hourigan called it a "critical safety issue" and said a long-term fix is needed, even if it means ripping up the track.

On Aug. 8, 2021, an eastbound train derailed near Tunney's Pasture after a wheel was severed from the axle. A subsequent inspection of the fleet found another destroyed cartridge assembly and 17 loose ones.

Last July, after a driver reported unusual vibration on the train, an inspection found the cartridge assembly was 10 times looser than it should have been, and the axle hub was so damaged "catastrophic failure was likely to occur if it had remained in service."

The TSB found some of the components showed oxidation and heat discolouration, and grease samples suggested the parts had been subjected to "a high-than-average heat event."

"The observed damage was widely spread throughout the cartridge assemblies," De Angelis wrote in his letter.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-derailment-issues-safety-risk-1.6749405

[Dzingle Bells]

i mean, not surprising but this seems *not good*

[lrt's friend]

Sounds like Go Slow orders forever. We got a lemon. And we are building a whole network around a lemon. Bicycle speed trains will drive more and more off of transit.

[roger1818]

It would be interesting to read what the the Transportation Safety Board actually said about the design of the Alstom Citadis Spirit vehicle (I don't trust the media to interpret anything, let alone technical briefs). Is it strictly an issue with the vehicle, or, as Alstom has claimed, an incompatibility between the design of the vehicle and the design of the track alignment? Can the problem be fixed by using a different "cartridge assembly" design, replacing the vehicle, or removing some of the sharp curves?