Unreliable LRT keeps undermining public confidence in system, observers say

Experts watching the Ottawa light rail line'sbearing boondoggle say OC Transpo made the right decision this week when it shutdown serviceafter yet again findingtechnical problemswith a train, though many see an uphill battle torestore public confidence in an unreliable system.

"They're not mucking around on safety anymore," said Patrick Dumond, an engineering professor at the University of Ottawawho specializes in the monitoring and diagnosis of bearing faults.

"They saw a problem, they shut it down and they said, 'Look, we know it sucks, we know it's going to cost money, we know it's going to ruin a lot of people's daily commutes, but safety is more important than anything else.'"

As DumondfollowedOC Transpo's communications on the issue, he couldonly concludethe people in charge still haveno idea what's wrong with the train bearings.

"They still don't know what the root causes of the problem are," he said.

On Tuesday, the city's general manager of transit servicesRene Amilcar expressed confidence that the cityis"very close" to finding that root cause.

History repeating itself

OC Transpo said it shut down the LRT after aroutine inspection revealed more greasethanexpected.

A subsequent investigation revealed issues with"bearing play," which essentially means the bearing was loose, according to Dumond.

He said theloosenessmay be due to maintenance issues orproblems on the tracks.

Ottawa's extreme temperatures (ranging from -33 C to 35 C this year alone) could also play a role by causingseals to degrade and allowingcontaminants into the wheel assembly.

Ultimately, he said he would need more information to diagnose the issue.

"There are so many different reasons for why this could be failing," he said.

Bearing issues were also identified as the cause of a 2021 derailment investigated by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada.

Former city councillor Diane Deans, who previously chaired the transit commission, said it's concerning and frustrating that history seems to be repeating itself.

"We know that there's some fundamental issues with the train," she said.

"And until they are properly understood and addressed, we're going to continue to reinvent the wheel. We're going to continue to see the same problems pop up over and over again."

'Reliability of the system is everything'

Deans said manycurrent councillors ran last year on a promise to fix the LRTand now they need a clearer plan about how to do so.

"Safety of the system and reliability of the system is everything," she said."Repeating the same issues over and over again does not lead to public confidence."

Stephen Blais, another former transit commission chair who's nowMPP for Orlans, said the public is frustrated not only over delays and shutdowns but also over a lack of transparency about the problems facing the system.

"I would certainly encourage them to put all the cards on the table as soon as possible so that people can have confidence that the powers that be have a handle on identifying what the problem is and a path forward to fixing it," he said.

The city's independent light rail regulatory monitor and compliance officerSam Berrada watches how well OC Transpoand contractors follow safetyregulations.He said the level of compliance has been high.

He called the current challenge"a very complex and technical issue," and agreedthat OC Transpo was right to show caution in shutting down the trains.

"Doing this out of an abundance of caution is better than to take risks and to bear the potential consequencesof that," he said.

"There's no doubt that everybody wants this issue to be remedied as expediently as possible," he added."Ithink that the city, from everything Isee, has been working very actively with the contractor and their subcontractor in this case."

Mayor Mark Sutcliffenoted that efforts to follow recommendations and beef up inspections were what led to finding the bearing issue before a catastrophe.

He said he's disappointed, and that the problem won't be fixed overnight. But in his view, the city is on the right track.

"We have to keep identifying all the problems with the service," Sutcliffesaid.

"We have to keep doing that over and over and over again until all the problems have been identified and fixed, and only then will we have the safe reliable service that the people of Ottawa deserve and paid for."

Union calls LRT 'a complete disaster'

Deans said it's again clear that the city cut corners during the LRT process.

The president of the union representing OC Transpo workers is inclined to agree.

"The train so far has been a complete disaster," said Clint Crabtree, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279."It's just incident after incident."

He said the LRT has been "continuously underperforming," which he blamed on what he believes isunderstaffing at Alstom, which developed and maintainsthe trains as partof the Rideau Transit Group.

Like Deans, he worries ridership will continue to suffer as the public wonders how it canhave confidence in a system that repeatedly breaks down.

He said the abrupt shutdownandpivot to R1 bus serviceputs a lot of pressure on the system and those who work on it.

"My membersare picking up where the LRT can't, and they're still giving the service back to the public through the buses," he said.

With inspections of each axle on every trainongoing, Crabtree estimated it could take weeks until the system is ready torun again. Dumond said a long-term solution that ensures reliability could take much longer.

"I think it depends if we decide on a Band-Aid solution or if we decide on aproperengineered solution that actually solves the problem," he said. "The latter will take much longer but will provide a much longer-term fix."