Confederation Line LRT closed down Wednesday due to ‘power problem’

A “power concern” has actually triggered train service to be stalled on the Confederation Line Wednesday early morning, according to OC Transpo.

The transit company stated on Twitter since 9:45 a.m. that no trains are operating on the LRT line due to the issue, about which it did not right away offer more information. It kept in mind that updates are anticipated to come.

That notification followed an alert published 45 minutes previously about disturbances to westbound service from its University of Ottawa, Lees, and Hurdman stations due to a stopped train.

2 double-car trains, one taking a trip eastbound and the other westbound, stayed stopped on the tracks in between Lees and Hurdman stations prior to midday Wednesday early morning.

University of Ottawa trainee Emma Desrosiers stated she and the 20-or-so fellow travelers on her eastbound train had actually waited 2 hours onboard after it stopped around 8:30 am.

The train had actually gradually climbed up a slope on the tracks past Lees Station, almost pulled up, “and after that we sort of relapsed down,” stated Desrosiers.

A couple more efforts were made to climb up the slope– “simply a couple of feet increasing, and after that relapsing”– however the train was eventually stopped. About an hour later on, as guests waited on the stopped train, she stated she saw a huge stimulate” out the window when a westbound train passed.

Desrosiers stated the LRT automobile then lost power, staying without it another hour later on as individuals left the train cars and truck.

Employees had actually shown up onboard fairly rapidly, and “they were truly open about what was going on,” stated Desrosiers, who stated she was comprehending about the disturbance, offered the severe weather condition. She had actually been taking a trip to her task with a regional floral designer, and states in hindsight, she must have simply stayed at home.

Travelers were ultimately assisted off the train to a pedestrian path, through a hole cut in a fence, with firemens salting the icy ground as they strolled back to Lees station.

This paper has actually connected to the City of Ottawa, city transit commission chair Coun. Glen Gower and the Ottawa Fire Service about the event.

OC Transpo stated R1 replacement bus service is running end-to-end along the Line 1 path, in between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations. Shuttle are likewise running in between Cyrville and St-Laurent stations.

Riding an R1 bus back to his house downtown, Paul Cyr was less sanguine than Desrosiers about the scenario. He too had actually been on the stopped eastbound train.

The 73-year-old has problems strolling and had actually been navigating his everyday grocery journey. What he wasn’t preparing for was 2 hours on a stopped train without as much interaction as he would have liked about what was taking place, and a slippery walk back to capture a bus in the freezing rain.

An everyday transit user, “I’m going to need to stop taking this foolish thing,” Cyr stated of the LRT system. “I’ll simply need to go back to the buses. Since the O-Train draws.”

OC Transpo had actually alerted riders previously on Wednesday that, “Due to continuous freezing rain and slippery roadway conditions, bus and Para Transpo service hold-ups might happen. Strategy your journey and beware when boarding, leaving, and at station platforms.”

Previously this year, fog rolling off the open Rideau River near Lees Station condensed and adhered the LRT’s overhead power lines in the location throughout a Jan. 4 freezing rain storm, contributing to an ice accumulation that surpassed the style limitations of the wires.

The ice accumulation throughout that occurrence brought 2 trains to a stop and ultimately triggered electrical arcing so extreme that it melted the copper cable television in the train’s overhead catenary system, the city’s transit commission was informed throughout a conference in February. The Confederation Line was partly closed down for 6 days, with extra trains being stuck in location after being sent out to clear the problem.

More to come …

With files from Aedan Helmer, Taylor Blewett and Blair Crawford