‘O-train is safe’: Amilcar
Posted Feb 16, 2023 08:30:00 PM.
During the first ever meeting of Ottawa's light rail transit (LRT) subcommittee on Thursday, Feb. 16, the head of the City of Ottawa's transit services wanted to be perfectly clear when it comes to the O-train service.
“The safety of our customers and my team is the number one priority,” said Renée Amilcar, OC Transpo's general manager at the start of the meeting. “The O-Train is safe. If for any reason we believed that the train wasn't safe, we would not operate it.”
Amilcar's words come a day after the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) issued a warning that the problems that caused two O-train derailments in 2021 will “continue to pose a risk to safety” until OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) resolve the issues.
In letter issued to OC Transpo on Feb. 3, the TSB said the wheel assembly failures that caused two derailments nearly two years ago and the axle hub failure last July can't be blamed on just one factor, and the design of the trains themselves may play a key role.
The City said it has met with TSB and has written confirmation from the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) that the O-train's Line 1 is safe.
In the letter from the TSB, the agency stated the problems that caused the derailments are still out there on the Confederation Line.
The City admitted that the analysis into the wheel assembly failures have not they concluded, and in the meantime, said it regularly inspects the wheel assemblies and replacing parts before they wear out.
