Officials unsure when LRT will get back online
Firefighters had to help passengers exit from 1 of 5 stopped trains
Officials with OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Management say they don't know when service will be restored to the Confederation Line after it was shut down Wednesday morning.
Train service on Confederation Line is not operating and R1 bus service is in place between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations.
At a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, Mario Guerra, CEO for Rideau Transit Maintenance, said five trains stopped automatically because ice caused problems with the electrical connections between the overhead wires and their contacts on the train.
Those five trains were still on the tracks as of 5:30 p.m., along with eight others that were stopped to prevent further damage to the system.
Guerra said there is no estimate on when train service will get back up and running.
"I don't know, at this point, how long it's going to take," he said.
In a memo sent earlier Wednesday, OC Transpo general manager Renée Amilcar said the service ran trains overnight on the light rail line because of the forecast and when service started around 5 a.m., 10 of the 13 trains in service were equipped with a special gear called a winter carbon, meant to reduce ice buildup on the overhead power lines.
"We put mitigation measures in place and learned about the experience we had on Jan. 4," she said at the media briefing. "We are going to investigate better to know exactly what happened."
In January, freezing rain led to a multi-day shutdown of the light rail line when ice buildup in that same part of the line near Lees station caused part of the overhead power system to melt.
One problem, Amilcar said, may be that the trains are too sensitive to power surges, adding that more investigation is necessary.
Richard Holder, an engineer and rail manager with the city, said after the January shutdown a working group was formed to look at what could be done to prevent future issues with freezing rain and ice events.
He said the preventative measures they took this time — running trains all night and equipping them with winter carbons — came from that working group.
Guerra said the hope is to have longer-term fixes in place by next winter.
ONGOING, Line 1: R1 bus service continues to operate between Tunney's Pasture and Blair due to a power issue. No train service on Line 1. Shuttle buses running between Cyrville and St-Laurent. Staff are onsite to assist. Updates to follow.
—@OC_TranspoTimeline of events
The first alert about a stopped train came around 8:50 a.m. Soon after, eastbound platforms were closed at uOttawa, Lees and Hurdman stations.
According to Troy Charter, director of transit services, the five stopped trains were on different parts of the Confederation Line.
One stopped just east of Tunney's Pasture station, one stopped as it came into Rideau station, two stopped between Lees and Hurdman stations and one stopped just east of Tremblay station.
The decision was then made to shut down the entire system to prevent further damage to the infrastructure.
At the media briefing, Charter said R1 buses are running in 10-minute intervals and demand for those buses will be monitored and increased if necessary and possible.
Firefighters cut open a fence beside one train stopped between Lees and Hurdman stations so passengers could leave.
"We were stuck for more than 45 minutes," said Masood Sakhi, a daily OC Transpo rider who was going to work when the problem happened.
Charter said his team will be reviewing how staff responded Wednesday, especially with regard to any lack of communication between officials and people stuck on the trains.
He said he wasn't sure how many riders were impacted by the stoppage, but noted that because of the weather, fewer people were using transit Wednesday.
Charter also said the review would ensure all the standard operating procedures in place were followed.
With files from Francis Ferland