O-Train service restored after overhead wire broke
Posted Jan 17, 2020 10:14:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
O-Trains are back up and running along the entire length of the Confederation Line, after overnight repairs to a broken overhead wire which shut down the east end of the line.
Train service was suspended between Hurdman and Blair stations for most of Thursday, after an overhead power line broke at the entrance to the tunnel, near St-Laurent Station.
“There's a transition where the wire goes from flexible cable into rigid wire, under the roof of the tunnel,” explained Peter Lauch, Rideau Transit Maintenance. “We think, at that intersection, the pantograph basically snagged and then it pulled the wire.”
The train that got its overhead power connector snagged on the wire was able to continue operating on battery backup power, to allow passengers to disembark at St-Laurent, transit officials said.
The factors that led to the train's pantograph snagging on the overhead wire are still being investigated.
The decision to shut down the east of the line completely, rather than run trains on a single track between Hurdman and Blair, was to allow repairs to be completed as quickly and safely as possible.
“For the workers, they're working on the overhead catenary wires, with high, high voltage,” said Troy Charter, OC Transpo. “So they need as much space as possible to do that.”
About 80 metres of overhead wire fell and needed to be replaced. Transit maintenance crews worked through the night to replace the wire and test it to make sure it worked properly.
Full O-Train service was in operation on the Confederation Line for the start of regularly scheduled train service at 5 a.m., Friday.
