Memo from OC Transpo on LRT service

Good afternoon Mayor and Members of Council,

Below is an update on the ongoing Line 1 service disruptions. To further support Members of Council, an FAQ document is attached. We also provided an update to media to help inform customers on the service they can expect tomorrow and the actions we have are taking to support them. In the future we will continue to update Council prior to a media availability.

I understand that this situation is frustrating for customers and restoration of full Line 1 service is taking longer than anticipated. Our number one priority is the safety of our customers and employees, and we are working to restore service as soon as it is safe to do so.

We expect that there will be higher ridership volume on our system this week as many customers return to school and work. Over the weekend, our team planned for several transit scenarios to deliver the best possible service under these challenging conditions. Unfortunately, R1 service will take resources away from other areas of the system. Our team is proactively monitoring these impacts and will adjust where possible.

Monday service:

Tomorrow, Monday January 9, Line 1 will continue to operate safely with two loops. Trains will operate between Blair and St. Laurent stations in the east and Tunney’s Pasture to uOttawa stations in the west. Customers can expect the frequency of this service to be approximately 5-minutes.

R1 bus service will operate between Blair and Rideau stations. R1 will run parallel to the rail service in the east to provide additional capacity and reduce congestion.

R1 will not service Cyrville Station, customers traveling to this station are asked to transfer at St-Laurent or Blair stations. OC Transpo staff will be actively monitoring passenger demand for the R1 service and adjusting where possible. Customers can expect the frequency of R1 service to be higher during morning and afternoon peak hours.

Support for customers:

OC Transpo staff will continue to be present at key stations to support customers during their commute. Signs are also posted at every station to provide customers with the latest information. Customers can also hear the latest information being broadcast via our PA system.   

We continue to provide regular updates on all our regular communication channels and are working with our media partners to share the latest updates as widely as possible.

Status of restoration of service:

Earlier today, RTM completed their thorough inspections and our engineering team and outside experts have completed a review of these recommendations. Crews have also performed a follow-up sweep and successfully removed two immobilized trains from this track. 

Next steps:

RTM is now focused on the other track and completing the following steps:

1. Repairing the short section of the overhead catenary system (OCS) that was damaged. A thorough inspection of the OCS will be done. Once this inspection is complete, our engineering team and outside experts will verify the work.
2. Crews will do a follow-up sweep and then remove the remaining immobilized train.

We appreciate that the start of the week will be challenging for our customers. Thank you for your patience as we work to restore full rail service safely.

Customers can get information on their trips at octranspo.com, by following @OCtranspoLive or calling 613-560-5000 for updates. We will continue to work around the clock to get the O-Train back to the full, reliable service that our customers had experienced since March 2022, prior to this incident.