November LRT launch possible but will depend on details, says independent firm

The independent firmtasked with reviewingplans to get Ottawa's stalled light rail network up and running again says a partial mid-November relaunch is certainly possible but it will ultimately depend on what gets proposed.

Members of Ottawa's transit commission had their first chance Wednesday to put questions directly to Transportation Resource Associates (TRA), the Philadelphia-based firm hired by the city to assessthe return-to-service plan for Ottawa's Confederation light rail line.

The LRT network has been shut down since Sept. 19 when a train derailed near Tremblay station,the second derailment on the linein roughly six weeks.

Both derailments have sparked investigations by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The lack of rail service has alsoled to cries of anguish from transit riders about packed replacement buses and frustrating delays.

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The review of Ottawa's LRTnetwork is just one of 16 "rail safety oversight" projects TRA is currently handling, vice-president Daniel HaubertoldWednesday's virtual commission meeting.

Hauber said TRA'steamhas been carrying out inspections and doing interviews since the start of the month, and promised to share "independent and unbiased assessments" of the plan put forward by Rideau Transit Group (RTG), the consortium that built the Confederation Line.

RTG has vowed to have up to seven trains plus one spare ready by Nov. 1. The city has said the subsequent testing requirements mean if everything goesaccording to plan LRT service may not resume until the middle of the month.

TRA would ultimately offer its recommendations whether or not to approve that plan, Hauber said.

"Certainly we'll see in the final form of the return-to-service plan if that [date becomes] the reality," Hauber told the commission. "But it's possible."

Bolt issue to blame

Commission also heard more details Wednesday from the preliminary investigation into the Sept. 19 derailment, which occurred whena heavy gear box came loose and began dragging along the tracks.

Bolts on the gear box wereimproperly torqued, according to RTG and train manufacturer Alstom. That led citizentransit commissioner Michael Olsen to ask TRA whether in alltheir time assessing transit networksthey'd everseen sucha seemingly "minute" issue causethe full-scale shutdown.

While he couldn't name a specific case where that was the outcome, TRA president Kenneth Korach said inhis 40 years in the industry, incorrectbolt installation has certainly been a "significant" problem.

"It has resulted in either unsafe conditions or derailments or other factors that have then escalated into more serious safety issues," Korach said. "If a bolt isn't properly torqued, it leads us and other professionals to wonder what else is going on."

How long has it beensince Ottawa's LRT system went off the rails?

Throughout the meeting, several commission members expressed what's become an increasingly frequent refrain: citizens have lost faith in the ability for RTG to run the city's LRT network.

Coun. Diane Deans noted the low "trust and confidence" in the system and urgedTRA to "go thatextra mile" in their review soriders would feel safe.

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"We are looking at ...the mitigation strategies that will safely and effectively allow you to restore service. That doesn't mean that there aren't longer-term things to get fixed," Korach said.

"If the answer is that there is nothing short-term that can be done safely, then the answer is: don't go back in service."

'Probably not' launching Nov. 1

Wednesday's meeting also included representatives from RTG, with Mario Guerra, CEO of the consortium's maintenance arm, noting it was theoretically possible passengers could ridethe Confederation Line by the start of November but not very likely.

"At this point, it's purely speculation. We need to work the process and ensure that we provide the city and TRA with the information they're looking for to be able to [resume operations]," Guerra said.

"So there is a possibility that we could be in service Nov. 1 although admittedly, probably not."

RTG has not publiclyreleased the details of its partial return-to-service plan, although the city has seen it. A date for a full return has not been determined, Guerra said.