UPDATE: Service on Line 1 was back in operation by 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, as per a communication to the council from Rami El Faghali, the city’s transit bus operations and maintenance director.
There were disruptions and shuttle buses on the eastern segment of Line 1 of the O-Train on Friday due to a malfunction in the overhead wire system. By around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Line 1 was limited to running between Tunney’s Pasture and Tremblay stations, with R1 bus services bridging the gap between Hurdman and Blair stations.
Repair work was expected to continue overnight, as stated in a memo from OC Transpo shortly before 6 p.m. on Friday. A damaged component on the overhead power wire system was identified between St-Laurent and Cyrville around 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, causing a train to halt. Initially, no trains were operating beyond St-Laurent.
According to a Thursday memo from Rick Leary, the general manager of transit services, the plan was for regular Line 1 service to resume at the beginning of service on Friday, which did not materialize. Subsequent to that, a memo around 7:40 a.m. on Friday indicated that more extensive damage was found than anticipated, and repairs were scheduled to resume later in the evening following the peak hours.
Pending approval from inspectors, regular service was projected to be reinstated on Saturday. However, a later memo just before 6 p.m. did not mention the Saturday target. The LRT’s overhead catenary system utilizes suspended wires to supply electric power to the trains. Previous issues have occurred after freezing rain or lightning, but the exact cause of this latest incident is yet to be determined.
OC Transpo has not provided an explanation for the recent damage.
