Gear box coming loose caused September O-Train derailment, RTG tells City of Ottawa

By Mike Vlasveld

The City of Ottawa says a gearbox on one of its light rail trains came loose and dragged along the tracks near Tremblay Station, causing a derailment on September 19.

That's what City Manager Steve Kanellakos told city council Wednesday, October 13, in an update from the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) regarding the incident which has sidelined light rail service in the city for more than three weeks. 

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said on October 7, that its investigators had found impact marks at sporadic intervals on the rail ties, rail clips, clip holders and bolts along a 1,400-foot stretch of rail near Tremblay Station. 

“The frequency of the impact marks increased slightly approaching the east end of Tremblay Station,” read the TSB report. “The impacts observed were consistent with some form of mechanical damage likely resulting from contact with an undetermined component from LRV 1121.”

The TSB believed derailed wheels had sheared off bolts on the south side of all of the south guard rail joints.

It explained that the train had smashed into and destroyed a signal mast as well as a switch heater that was adjacent to the track. The track adjacent to the signal had buckled as a result of the derailment, but that was not considered to have caused the incident. 

Kanellakos is expecting to find out sometime this week, when rail service might return to the Confederation Line.

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