It's hard to see how LRT will be ready by Canada Day

At last count — we're on unofficial deadline No. 4 now, in case you've lost track — the consortium building the LRT was supposed to hand it over by the end of this month.

• RTG says it's finished building Confederation LRT Line
• Certifier agrees with city that LRT isn't finished

But considering some trains still have defects, there are issues with the rail switches and the 12-day consecutive testing hasn't even begun, it's hard to see how Rideau Transit Group (RTG) can hand over the $2.1-billion Confederation Line by June 30.

LRT deadline update Tuesday

John Manconi, the city's head of transit and transportation, won't yet discuss whether RTG will be finished the light rail system by June 30, the latest target date since the March 31 deadline was missed.

Technically, June 30 is not an official deadline because RTG had until May 31 to submit a new handover date.

Asked if RTG had delivered a letter to the city confirming a new date, Manconi said only that he would give a full update on the deadlines at the finance and economic development committee on Tuesday morning.

Some trains have 'defects'

At his last update in early May, Manconi told councillors the 13 stations on the 12.5-kilometre system were basically finished, but he had concerns about the trains. It was such a concern that Mayor Jim Watson personally called the head of France-based Alstom, the company making the trains, to pressure the company to fix them by June 30.

Now, a month later, Manconi has confirmed all 34 light rail cars still aren't working perfectly. 

Here's the somewhat bureaucratic way Manconi put it: "The fleet is at different states of defect-free modes … Some are very close. There's some that need a bit more work."

Translation: Some light rail vehicles still have defects.

For example, a train was stuck at the the University of Ottawa station last Wednesday for an unknown reason, CBC learned and Manconi confirmed.

'Disturbed' switches

And while all 34 cars have been on the track at some point, some have clocked "very high mileage" while others have clocked a lot less, Manconi said.

In fact, there has never been a time when 30 cars — coupled into 15 trains — have been on the track at the same time, which is what will be required for rush-hour service when the Confederation Line is eventually serving the public.

There also appear to be ongoing issues with switches, which sometimes don't align properly. It's unclear if the issue lies with the track itself, or the computer system that runs the system. Either way, a "disturbed" switch, which could not be operated by "mainline control," was responsible for two vehicles stuck last week at Blair station. 

RTG said LRT done a month ago

Manconi has vowed repeatedly that the city won't accept the light rail system before it's confident that it's completely safe and operating almost flawlessly.

"Virtually defect-free is what you're shooting for," Manconi told CBC. "And consistent reliability."

That's as it should be. Right now, any ongoing problems are RTG's headache. Once the city takes over the key to the system, any issues are on the city.

The issues plaguing the Confederation Line appear to vary in seriousness: trains stopping for no reason, or switches that can't be operated from the central computer system seem cause for ongoing concern.

Water dripping from the tunnel ceiling, or two vehicles colliding at the storage facility during a "coupling operation," breaking a window in one of the vehicles — yes, those things actually happened last month — might be characterized as problems that are bound to come up.

After all, we heard last month that a derailed train is "absolutely normal."

But what's truly concerning as a taxpayer and future passenger isn't that there are issues, but that RTG tried to argue last month that the system was pretty much done, when trains and switches weren't working properly.

How can it claim that? It's hard to get an answer when RTG officials rarely appear at public meetings.

Unrealistic timeline

Even if all the technical issues are fixed in the next week or so, which seems unlikely, there isn't enough time for LRT to roll out when it was supposed to.

First, RTG has to apply for substantial completion. Manconi will say Tuesday whether RTG has taken this step — it hadn't at this time last week.

The city then has up to five days to review RTG's argument that it's done with the Confederation Line. After that, an independent certifier has another five days to review the city's position and say whether she agrees. 

These steps alone would take three weeks.

When the city does agree that the LRT is substantially complete, the 12-day consecutive testing can begin. During this phase, the system is supposed to run for a week and a half as if it's operating full time. If there's a major problem, the testing has to begin all over again.

There is literally not enough time for all these procedures to be completed in the next four weeks, even if everything goes almost perfectly.

Hope might spring eternal, but a reality check tells us we should all be bracing for deadline No. 5.