Date of publication: June 11, 2022 • 23 hours ago • 5 minutes reading • 7 Comments File archive: An LRT train sits idle on the line at OC Transpo Belfast Yard. Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia
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French train maker Alstom told the provincial LRT investigation that the city of Ottawa and contractor Rideau Transit Group knew the $ 2.2 billion Confederation Line was not ready to start in full, but the city went anyway.
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In an opening statement to the panel, RTG subcontractor Alstom said: “Instead of further delaying the launch of the revenue service, the city has opted to launch the system by September 14, 2019, no matter what. “In addition, the city has refused to increase revenue services through a soft launch, an industry-standard business approach that will allow a new system to clear up operational issues and maintenance issues before it takes on full passenger capacity.” The result was predictable, says Alstom. the city chased the RTG for shortages. Alstom has not immediately addressed the problems with the LRT system so far. The company’s most public response was when Mayor Jim Watson called the CEO at Ottawa City Hall in June 2019 to receive assurances as to when the trains would be ready.
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Jim Watson, far left, met with Alstom and RTG executives in 2019. Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge is on the far right. Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News The committee of inquiry, set up by the provincial government, is in charge of investigating the Stage 1 LRT faults and selecting the town of Rideau Transit Group (RTG) as its contractor. Judge William Hourigan is the commissioner who will preside over the hearing, which is set to begin on Monday. Piles of evidence collected by the commission’s lawyers through witness interviews and the submission of documents foreshadow the kind of fingerprinting that could result from the hearings of the investigation. Alstom designed the Citadis Spirit train for the Ottawa LRT project, the first time a train manufacturer had provided rolling stock for a Canadian rail system. Alstom is also the main subcontractor of Rideau Transit Maintenance affiliated with RTG for its 30-year maintenance agreement with the city.
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In its inaugural statement to the committee, Alstom explains why some of the train problems have occurred. “Early research shows that non-compliant track design has contributed to the excessive pressure on vehicles that led to this accelerated axle failure rate,” says Alstom as she faces the August 2021 derailment near Tunney’s Pasture. According to Alstom, “the track design creates excessively high transverse pressure in vehicles during operation, especially at certain speeds, which causes excessive stress under the axle bearing”. There are tight curves on the 12.5 km long railway line between the east gate of the downtown tunnel and Tremblay Station.
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Alstom also reveals how it got involved with the RTG offering. Initially, Alstom tried to participate in a different bid that did not qualify. Alstom then applied to join two of the specialized consortia, but the consortia refused. In June 2012, as time went on in the city’s LRT procurement process, RTG approached Alstom to be its train supplier, after RTG’s original supplier, CAF, was excluded from the city, according to Alstom. Alstom says it only had three months to write its offer as part of RTG’s proposal to the city, but that the industry standard for this type of work is between nine and 18 months.
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Alstom had to remodel the Citadis train, which was used in other parts of the world, to meet the demands of the city. The city’s vehicle design requirements were at the absolute limit of what an LRV (light rail vehicle) can do, says Alstom. After RTG won the contract tender, the city took 12 months to complete the design options, delaying train production and validation tests, Alstom says, and all parties, including the city and RTG, decided to build and test trains at the same time to avoid delays. “The risk, known and accepted by all parties, was that the mechanical issues identified during the validation tests would lead to modifications to vehicles that had already been produced,” Alstom said in a statement.
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“As expected, this is exactly what happened in this project.” On September 19, 2021, an LRT train derailed west of Tremblay Station, shutting down the system for a month and 23 days. Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia The team of engineers hired by RTG’s construction contractor to design most of the runways and stations submitted their own inaugural statement to the committee last week. RTG Engineering Joint Venture, a partnership between SNC-Lavalin and WSP Canada, says that “engineering services did not cause or contribute to the maintenance, damage or derailment issues that are the main focus of this research.” In its inaugural statement Monday, the city of Ottawa said it was in no hurry to open the LRT system. “The focus of the city has been and is on public safety, reliability and customer experience for the Ottawa light rail,” the city said in a statement.
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During the trial period, the city agreed to reduce the number of double-decker trains required for peak periods from 15 to 13 after seeing that passenger traffic did not reach the levels stipulated in the contract. The city thought it would also give RTM some breathing space with more spare vehicles. While RTG argues that a soft start is “best practice”, the city says no “soft start” is required under the convention. “The city had the right to expect that once the system was delivered it would be ready for operation,” the city said in a statement. The city noted that “it remains concerned about the ability and commitment of RTG and its subcontractors to maintain the system properly.” RTG, meanwhile, is criticizing the city for failing to properly manage public expectations for a new transit system.
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“The city has exacerbated these challenges by failing to make riders aware of the possibility and regularity of the holiday. Instead, the city promoted the Ottawa’s passenger system as a turnkey system, when an experienced carrier knows that any new transportation system of this complexity is experiencing “intensifying pain,” according to an RTG opening statement also filed. on Monday. RTG says it was “disappointed” by Alstom because of the delayed delivery of trains and the slowness in building a maintenance workforce. “Given Alstom’s vast resources, market power and the global scale of its operations and know-how, RTG parties expected more from Alstom,” says RTG. The research hearings are scheduled to last four weeks. They will be held at the University of Ottawa, where the public can watch a live stream that will also appear on the committee’s website. The auditions will also be broadcast on Rogers TV. A change program of witnesses is available here. [email protected] twitter.com/JonathanWilling
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