John Manconi was on CTV Ottawa Morning earlier today to speak of the cracked wheels, the investigation and his conversations with the new CEOs. He once again offered to shut down the line for any period of time this summer. 

He also spoke about the switch heaters. Since last winter, OC Transpo has asked RTG/RTM to convert the heaters from electric to gas. Winter switche issues have been one of the major causes of disruptions. Up until now, they've been saying it wasn't necessary however, the new CEO of RTG, Nicolas Truchon, has now approved the conversion of a few switches. We're already seeing some movement a few days into the new leadership's term.

This is great news. Clearly the electric heaters for the switches were not up to the job. Switching to gas should increase the heat output to the needed level. Lets hope they move ahead and upgrade all the heater units throughout the alignment so this is a thing of the past. Right here, this is will be a big improvement for the winter.

Hoping the new CEO has even more zest to get the rest of the line up to spec. A good solid start!

New Update today on O-Train Line 1:

Rideau Transit Group has established a routine for wheel inspections that allows them to increase the vehicle count for service to 8 plus a spare. Effective tomorrow, with the increase in vehicles, the train will operate on a 7-minute service throughout the day. The 7-minute frequency will continue throughout the weekend as well.

We will communicate this to our customers through all our channels and update you as more information becomes available.

It has been a while since we have posted anything related to interruptions or service impacts.

Today at 3:07pm, OC Transpo reported a water leak in the tunnel west of Rideau Station (so between Parliament and Rideau, but likely closer to Rideau).

Trains continue to operate but will travel slower when entering and leaving Rideau Station.

 

Update about an hour later...

The leak is minor and is being caused by a water supply pipe in the tunnel just west of Rideau Station.

 

Memo: Rideau Transit Group proposed full return-to-service, November 29, 2021

https://www.railfans.ca/news/memo-rideau-transit-group-proposed-full-return-to-service

The purpose of this memo is to advise the Mayor and Members of Council and the Transit Commission that the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has informed the City that full-service resumption is anticipated by Monday, November 29, and to provide you with further details on RTG's plan to safely return the O-Train Confederation Line 1 into service following the September 19 derailment.

We can advise that significant progress has been made to prepare for the resumption of partial Line 1 service since the Transit Commission was updated last Wednesday. Additional RTG technicians have been deployed to inspect the trains and conduct necessary work to relaunch the system. The independent rail safety expert, Transportation Research Associates (TRA), is actively monitoring their progress. 

Partial service resumption (seven trains plus one spare) remains on-target to resume within the first two weeks of November, consistent with what was anticipated and presented in the last updates to the Commission and City Council. 

As part of the partial return-to-service plan and to validate repairs to the infrastructure, some test trains will operate on portions of the system later this week. These preliminary test trains will be used to verify correct operation of the trains and the infrastructure that was repaired. A further memo will be issued to Council before testing on track commences. 

As a reminder, the base service plan for Line 1 requires 15 trains for the morning peak period, 13 trains for afternoon peak period, and a range of vehicles at other times of the day. RTG's proposed timeline for the availability of 32 vehicles (15 trains plus one spare) is conditional on the acceptance of their workplan by TRA, timely execution of the inspection program, validation of the work completed on the vehicle fleet and acceptance by the City. 

The City has made clear to RTG that the O-Train Confederation Line 1 will only return to service once TRA completes their assessment, and the City accepts their recommendations. Once partial Line 1 service resumes, RTG will continue to inspect the remainder of the fleet. LRT service will incrementally increase as more vehicles are cleared for service, ultimately growing the service to full deployment (16 trains/32 vehicles) for Line 1 by November 29. 

The November 29 date provided by RTG is a target and is subject to validation of the vehicle inspection program by TRA and the City. Accordingly, staff anticipates a return to full service is achievable by mid-December. I will continue to provide you with updates as they become available. 

Steve Kanellakos, City Manager

Source : City of Ottawa

Memo: Update on Rideau Transit Group return-to-service plan: start of testing

https://www.railfans.ca/news/memo-update-on-rideau-transit-group-return-to-service-plan-start-of-testing

The purpose of this memo is to confirm that some test trains will begin operating on portions of the system this afternoon. 

Progress continues to be made towards restoring partial Line 1 service. Under the oversight and ongoing monitoring of the independent rail safety expert, Transportation Research Associates (TRA), RTG technicians have been deployed to the site to perform critical activities including train inspections and tasks related to relaunching service on the system. 

Prior to service resumption, the entire system will undergo a robust testing regime with three main areas of focus: 

• track and infrastructure 
• train testing 
• full system-wide tests 

This testing period will commence today and continue throughout the following weeks leading up to the resumption of partial service, anticipated to launch in the first two weeks of November. Throughout this testing period, customers will see trains running at different speeds, on different sections of the track, and stopped for long periods of time. Trains will sometimes run the entire track from end-to-end and at other times may only run for short distances on the line. Trains will also often cross over between the two tracks on the line. At times, many technicians will also be on the line as they perform inspections of all components of the track and rail infrastructure. 

This testing will be critical to allow TRA, RTG and the City to confirm that all the repairs on the trains, track and the infrastructure meet the quality standards required for a safe return to service and continued operations of Line 1. As previously communicated, TRA has performed their preliminary assessment of the situation and they are now in the process of developing their own detailed workplan following the receipt of RTG's proposed return-to-service date and associated workplan.

Original signed by Renée Amilcar  

Partial LRT service set to resume Friday, 54 days after derailment