OTTAWA鈥擬any transit riders in Ottawa were left out in the cold during a heavy snowstorm after serious power issues on the city鈥檚 light-rail system slowed service to a snail鈥檚 pace Thursday.
The system needs 13 trains to run at full service but at some points during the morning rush hour only six were working鈥攍eaving thousands of passengers with a long and crowded commute.
The breakdowns, which started Wednesday evening, meant some transit riders had to leave the trains and walk on the tracks to the nearest stations.
“We don鈥檛 want evacuations, we don鈥檛 want to have people walk on the track, in the tunnel,” said the city鈥檚 transit manager, John Manconi. “We鈥檙e not happy that we鈥檙e doing that.”
Ottawa鈥檚 LRT system has been plagued since full service began last October, hindered by issue after issue with the trains themselves and overhead wires.
Rideau Transit Group (RTG) CEO Peter Lauch denied the winter storm had anything to do with the latest problems.
He pointed to a damaged power line and ongoing issues with the train鈥檚 power inductors, which often fail when exposed to the elements.
RTG has been installing covers for the inductors and the ones that are protected are working well, Lauch said. But so far, only 19 of the line鈥檚 34 light-rail cars have been retrofitted (two cars make up one train).
Ottawa is the first city to use this particular version of Alstom鈥檚 low鈭抐loor Citadis Spirit train model. Problems with the trains, including door jams and other mechanical failures, were one of the reasons the project launched more than a year behind schedule last fall.
The ongoing problems have attracted attention from outside the capital from cities eyeing similar LRT systems, or, in the case of Metrolinx in the Toronto area, purchasing the same cars.
Some city councillors have called for the trains to be replaced with a more reliable model, but Lauch said despite the ongoing breakdowns, the trains are “good” and can provide service. Every time RTG develops a new solution to work around the issues, the train design is modified for new customers.
But he admitted that鈥檚 “cold comfort” for the train-riding public in Ottawa.
Ottawa鈥檚 LRT was designed to reduce emissions by replacing hundreds of buses from the downtown transit corridor. But for about a month, the city has had to run bus service parallel to the line to make up for the unreliable service.
Ontario NDP transit critic Jessica Bell raised the ongoing issues with Ottawa鈥檚 LRT system in the legislature Thursday and asked the premier to put a moratorium on public-private partnerships until projects that have experienced problems are reviewed.
She also noted Toronto鈥檚 Eglinton Crosstown light-rail project, which is now expected to be completed about a year behind schedule.
Premier Doug Ford responded that public-private partnerships in Ontario have a good track record of being on time and on budget, and questioned why Bell doesn鈥檛 want transit built in the province.
This article is from the Internet:Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit Leaves Thousands Stranded in Heavy Snow Story