Passenger service returns to Ottawa’s light rail Confederation Line

The O-Train is again carrying passengers on Ottawa's light rail system after a derailment halted service for nearly two months.

After a successful testing period, Transportation Resource Associates (TRA) gave the City of Ottawa the go-ahead, earlier this week, to start running passenger service on its light rail Confederation Line starting Friday, November 12. 

After the O-Train derailment near Tremblay Station on September 19 — the second derailment in a six-week span — TRA was hired to oversee Rideau Transit Group's (RTG) return-to-service plan. It has since reviewed more than 200 investigation reports, technical documents, plans, and analyses; and has conducted over 100 inspections, site visits, meetings, and monitoring sessions.

Service restarted on Friday with seven trains and one spare. The city said full service is expected to be in place by the end of the month.

TRA is expected to continue to be actively engaged in RTG’s return-to-service plan and is developing a plan for ongoing monitoring that will compliment OC Transpo’s existing oversight programs. 

In a memo, Tuesday, City Manager Steve Kanellakos said R1 replacement bus service will be maintained come Friday. City staff will be assessing, based on actual ridership levels, whether R1 replacement bus service can be reduced.