Unclear if LRT will return to full service in time for Monday

LRT service in Ottawa remains partially disrupted Sunday as crews work to repair damaged overhead power cables and eventually remove four immobilized trains, but full service might not be ready in time for Monday.

LRT service in Ottawa remains partially disrupted Sunday as crews work to repair damaged overhead power cables and eventually remove four immobilized trains, but full service might not be ready in time for Monday.

Trains have been stuck in the area of Hurdman Station since Wednesday night’s freezing rainstorm. An attempt to clear ice on Friday resulted in damage to the overhead catenary system that powers the train (the OCS) and a train that was sent to remove one of the other stuck trains on Saturday damaged the wires again, causing it to become stuck.

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's "CFRA Live with Andrew Pinsent" Sunday morning, the city's director of transit service delivery and rail operations, Troy Charter, said the focus is to get back to full service as quickly as possible, but it might not be done Sunday.

"We need to make sure that it's done safely and when we do return to service, that it'll be a reliable service as well," he said. "The focus is to get back to service as quickly as possible, but it is likely, it is possible that this will continue into Monday, for sure." 

The western loop of the system is running between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations. In the east, trains are running between Blair and Tremblay. The R1 bus is replacing service between Rideau and St. Laurent stations.

Charter, said Saturday that keeping sustained R1 bus service into the workweek would likely lead to route cancellations and delays across other parts of the bus network.

“Our commitment is to continue to provide R1 with as frequent a service as possible, but I do need to be 100 per cent transparent and honest in this regard, we do know that there will likely be other impacts to increasing cancellations in other parts of the system,” he said in an interview. “The teams are working through that to try to minimize those impacts. And we’re going to continue to work through this all weekend.”