Ontario government calls public inquiry into problems affecting Ottawa’s LRT system
Posted November 18, 2021 12:27 pm.
The Ontario government says it will be launching a public inquiry into problems affecting Ottawa’s light rail transit system.
Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney says in a release that the problems plaguing Stage 1 of the project are unacceptable and disappointing.
She says the provincial government, as a funding partner, and Ottawa transit riders need certainty that the city will be able to successfully deliver the remaining phases of the project.
The $2-billion line that had been more than a decade in the making opened two years ago.
The federal Transportation Safety Board has said there have been five derailments in the last two years — three of those derailments happened off the main tracks.
Other problems have included a sinkhole that swallowed a major downtown thoroughfare during construction, door jams delaying the line for hours, wheels developing flat spots, salt spray from roads gumming up electrical works and stations that smelled of raw sewage.
“In the coming weeks, we will establish the scope of the inquiry and its terms of reference, with the intention of receiving a report on what has transpired and recommendations to prevent this from happening again,” said Mulroney’s statement released Wednesday.
Mayor Jim Watson also released a statement to CityNews following the Ontario government’s decision to go ahead with its own public inquiry, saying: “Both Premier Ford and I share the goal of better public transit for the residents of Ottawa.”
“As I have said over the last year, my number one goal is to get RTG and Alstom to fix LRT and start delivering the world class transit service Ottawa paid for and transit passengers deserve.”
He added, “I support the Province’s decision to get to the bottom of why RTG and Alstom have failed to deliver on their obligations to our City, and I support the shorter process proposed by the province. I will look forward to responding more fully when we are informed of the scope of the province’s effort.”
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Transit riders, advocates and local politicians have been demanding answers on the problems with the project.
Last month, Ottawa Coun. Catherine McKenney, whose pronouns are they and them, said their biggest fear is that there could be an accident where there is injury or loss of life.
Ottawa’s Confederation Line is a 12.5-kilometre straight, twinned track with 13 stops that runs partially underground.
It serves as the spine of Ottawa’s entire transit system, having replaced the rapid-transit routes in and out of the city’s core.
Construction is already underway on Phase 2, which would extend the line to the east and west.
Files from CityNews Ottawa were used in this report
