Mayor Sutcliffe says we’re gonna fix up LRT real good this time

An O-Train running near University of Ottawa.

Current status of the O-Train: OC Transpo head Renée Amilcar said on Thursday she was “very confident” that trains would be running on August 14, while Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says brighter days are definitely ahead, 100%, yessireebob, FOR SURE.

Just check out this video Sutcliffe posted to Facebook on Wednesday, discussing the “permanent fix” for LRT that was first revealed last week.

“We are at last working on permanent solutions that will fix the system, not just address the short-term issues,” the mayor said. The companies behind the light rail system will design and install new axles and replace the wheel hub assemblies on all trains at their expense, he added. (He didn’t mention that it’s estimated to take 2 to 3 years to fully deploy the fix.)

In the short-term, Rideau Transit Group has begun repositioning some restraining rails along the line, which were problematic because they had been rubbing against wheels. CBC Ottawa published more information about this particular repair, and had some outside experts weigh in.

Because the issues of focus in the current shutdown are rather technical, Glen Gower, councillor for Stittsville and chair of the Transit Commission, aggregated some media interviews with different engineers that shed more light on what’s going on.

O-Train line 1 has been out of service since July 17.