RTG gives city a plan to return Confederation Line to service

Almost four weeks after a train derailed on the Confederation Line, shutting down the mass-transit service, the builder of the LRT has given the city a plan to get the light rail system up and running.

"Late this afternoon, Rideau Transit Group (RTG) provided the city with a return-to-service delivery plan," city manager Steve Kanellakos wrote in a memo sent to councilFriday evening.

"This document is quite detailed and staff will be reviewing the contents and conducting a preliminary assessment over the weekend. I will share details of the plan and RTG's proposed timeline on Monday."

There's no indication of whenRTGbelievesthe Confederation Line could berunning again.

At council this past Wednesday, Kanellakossaid that even when RTGdid file its plan he suggested at the time the plan could come as early as this week it would have to be reviewed carefully not only by the city's own staff and safety officers, but by theindependent consultants TRA Inc.that the city hired after the latest derailment.

WATCH| Still no date for LRT reopening, city manager told council Wednesday

Still no date for LRT reopening, city manager says

3 years ago

Duration 2:06

City manager Steve Kanellakos says officials are waiting on Rideau Transit Maintenance, the group in charge of maintaining the LRT system, to provide a return-to-service plan, which will then have to be reviewed by independent consultants hired by the city.

The city has challenged RTG's plans in the past, so there's no guarantee it would accept this return-to-service plan.

A trainderailed twice in as many months on the Confederation Line on Aug. 8 and Sept. 19.According to a report put out by the Transportation Safety Board less than 48 hours after the second incident, a westbound train had derailed just east of Tremblay station, then continued to travel though the station, across a rail bridge that goes over Riverside Drive, before coming to a stop.

That information was not disclosed at the transit commission meeting of Sept. 20. At the same meeting, then transit boss John Manconi suggested that the cause could have been from a piece of sanding equipment.

But this week, Kanellakos said RTG's maintenance armtold him the cause of the derailment was a loose gear box.CBC reported that on Sept. 21.

Kanellakos said he was told the bolts that secured the gear box were not properly tightened "or verified," which led the gear box to become dislodged and drag along the track and ultimately led to "the derailment of the wheel of the train."