YET ANOTHER LRT SETBACK
Special plow damages vital equipment
Only seven weeks before the handover deadline for the $2.1-billion LRT system — and a week before a crippling snowstorm — a specialized rail-plow malfunctioned and struck vital transmission equipment on the track.
It is further evidence the city’s keystone public-transit initiative, to be transferred from builder Rideau Transit Group on March 31, will not only miss the deadline but may have shortcomings only uncovered in winter testing under extreme weather conditions.
The city’s director of rail construction program, Michael Morgan, confirmed a plow employed by RTG’s maintenance division damaged parts of the system on Feb. 6.
Without providing many details, Morgan said the plow damaged two so-called “balises,” which are signalling transponders that lie flat between the tracks, just above the ground-level ties.
The transponders provide pinpoint siting information and are an important part of the “train control system.” (If only to state the obvious, the location or spacing between trains is not only a critically important safety component but essential to running 15 double-trains simultaneously at peak times, on schedule, ensuring service through the downtown tunnel every three or four minutes.)
There are more than 800 balises on the 12.5-km length of the Confederation Line, which has undergone testing for months.
In a written reply, Morgan said there is redundancy built into the system to ensure a damaged balise does not disrupt service. He said the two damaged devices were repaired and “did not affect testing activities.” Though the city was asked, it did not explain how the balises could be struck, by what, or where on the line the incident occurred.
Nor was the incident mentioned in a Feb. 12 presentation to Mayor Jim Watson and members of the finance and economic development committee by Rideau Transit Group CEO Peter Lauch or John Manconi, the city’s general manager of transportation.
That city hall meeting was gloomy enough. Manconi outlined eight elements still unfulfilled before RTG can hand over the system in a “revenue service” state, or ready to accept passengers. The words “snow removal” were never mentioned but councillors were shown a slide that listed “operational readiness on all fronts including maintenance” as among RTG’s contractual requirements.
It took some prodding but both Manconi and Watson said they were highly skeptical — despite Lauch’s assurances — LRT would be ready for city takeover on March 31.
The damage on Feb. 6 raises an obvious question. If snow removal did not go smoothly then, how did it fare on Feb. 12 and 13 when Ottawa was buried under 31 cm of snow?
Not well, we understand. CBC reported this week that “a light rail vehicle” got stuck between the Hurdman and Lees stations for two days, post-storm, and had to be towed to a maintenance yard.
On Wednesday, at a meeting of the city’s transit commission, Manconi was asked about his confidence in the rail system to effectively operate in adverse weather. He wouldn’t explore the topic, saying such questions should be saved for the upcoming finance committee meeting, where light-rail updates are normally delivered.
He did note, however, that two trains were being tested on the tracks Wednesday afternoon.
Curiously, the city reported to the Citizen last week that the trains were, in fact, being tested during the storm.
“RTG ran trains through the snowstorm last night and continued running trains until approximately 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning (Feb. 13). Running trains during this type of snow event helps to assess the readiness of the trains and systems for operation in winter conditions, confirm operation of key system features, including switch heaters, and validate the process and capabilities of the maintenance team to keep the system clear of snow.”
So, how is snow cleared from LRT tracks?
The city says Rideau Transit Maintenance, which has a 30year contract, uses at least three types of specialized equipment, employing a combination of blade plows, buckets, blowers, rotary brooms and forced hotair blowers to keep the tracks clear and the switches free of snow and ice.
The city says the frequency of trains — combined with the repeated contact from the overhead power system — helps keep both tracks and wires free of buildup.
The snow removal problems come at a time when RTG already has a full slate of deliverables. As of last week, only 14 of 34 trains had been fully certified, the tunnel ventilation system had not been fully tested and a mandatory 12-day, trouble-free run of simulated daily service had yet to be started.
And now this. It may be that banging a couple of transponders is just a growing pain in the work-up to launch day. Or not.
But this is the track we’re on: RTG has been so closed-mouthed, that every scrap of news — flooded stations, lousy concrete, missing computer systems — is digested with a cup of suspicion. With files from Vito Pilieci. kegan@postmedia.com