Partial service resumes on O-Train Line 1 for the first time since Sept. 19

For the first time in nearly two months, trains were rolling again in Ottawa Friday morning.

And while ridership was light, commuters seemed happy to be back on the rails.

“It saves a lot of time,” said Mohamed Thalil, whose trip from Hurdman to the Rideau Centre took five minutes on the Confederation Line versus the 20-25 minute it took by bus during the LRT shutdown.

“And I would have to wait because bus after bus would go by and they were always full,” he said.

The trains were far from full Friday as the LRT returned to service, having been given the green light by independent consultant Transportation Resource Associates.

At some stations, there were more OC Transpo staff in safety vests than commuters. About 100 people were aboard an 8 a.m. train eastbound from Tunney’s Pasture. Westbound trains were even less crowded.

Henk Van Faassen only returned to public transit last week after 18 months because of his worries about COVID-19. His trips downtown from Orléans last week required four buses and 90 minutes. Friday he left home at 8:30 and was at work by a little after 9.

He had no safety concerns despite the derailment that had idled the O-Train since Sept. 19.

“I trust the third-party company that checked the maintenance,” Van Faassen said.

As for the two months without service?

“That was unacceptable,” he said. “Things like that could have been avoided if the maintenance was done properly in the first place.”

The Confederation Line was running with partial service Friday with just seven trains and one spare. The city expects full service to resume by the end of November.

“Welcome back, everyone!” OC Transpo tweeted Friday morning. “The morning peak is underway and we are happy to have you back on the line.

“R1 bus service will continue to operate all day.”

The LRT line “has undergone extensive testing and is ready to safely return to service,” the transit service had told customers Thursday, with the first trains launched at 5 a.m. Friday.

Full R1 replacement bus service will continue Friday but may be reduced in the coming days as OC Transpo staff review ridership levels.

Initially, seven trains and one spare will be in service, OC Transpo said. More trains will gradually be put in service with full service expected by the end of the month.

Early riders seemed cautiously optimistic:

City manager Steve Kanellakos said Wednesday that the city’s return-to-service consultant, Transportation Resource Associates (TRA), had given the go-ahead to start partial LRT service.

The LRT has been closed since Sept. 19, when an Alstom Citadis Spirit train derailed near Tremblay Station.

Testing on the main line had been running smoothly in recent days, Kanellakos said Wednesday. The LRT system has been running a mock service in preparation for the return of customers.

Stage 1 LRT has 17 double-car trains, with 15 trains providing service at peak times.

TRA is sticking around to monitor the return to service.

On Thursday, city councillors maintained their support for a review of the troubled system by the city’s auditor general despite provincial officials hinting at judicial review.

-with files from Jon Willing