Axle investigation putting Ottawa’s Confederation Line out of service for ‘several days’

The City of Ottawa says its light rail Confederation line will be out of service for several days after one of its trains suffered a single-axle derailment last weekend.

A memo from General Manager of Transportation Services John Manconi to the city's mayor, members of city council and transit commission on Tuesday, August 10, explains that a process is underway to investigate the axle issue on the train and make sure all other trains are safe.

Manconi says specialized equipment being used to move the train with the axle issue from Tunney's Pasture back to OC Transpo's maintenance and storage facility is undergoing final preparations and testing in the rail yard. 

“The movement of the train needs to be planned and managed carefully in order to ensure the weight of the train is distributed evenly and the vehicle can be moved without damage to it or other rail infrastructure,” he writes.

The affected axle bearing assembly is expected to be disassembled in order to allow for a detailed review once the train is back at the maintenance facility on Wednesday.

Rideau Transit Maintenance is inspecting the axle bearing assembly on the rest of Ottawa's train fleet. Manconi explains that this process takes several hours to complete on each vehicle, so it is expected to take several days to complete the inspection of the entire fleet. 

“All light rail vehicles must and will undergo this inspection process prior to returning to service,” Manconi says.

The city is expected to provide updates regarding the status of the inspections and specifics on when rail service can resume as soon as those details become available.

R1 replacement bus service will continue to operate along the entire rail line with frequent trips to provide sufficient capacity for all customers. OC Transpo staff are monitoring ridership and will make adjustments to service as needed to meet ridership levels.