Latest news with #Line1
CTV News
13-06-2025
- CTV News
No LRT service on Line 1 this weekend for planned maintenance
An eastbound O-Train pulls in to Rideau Station on the Confederation Line of the Light Rail Transit system in Ottawa, Ont. (Brenda Woods/CTV Ottawa) Line 1 O-Train service will be offline this weekend. Planned maintenance occurring on Line 1 this month requires some partial or full interruptions to service for passengers, with most of the work occurring at night or on weekends. Service stopped early the evenings of June 6, 7, and 8, with more days of interruptions planned. The next planned shutdown takes place this weekend and will affect the whole line. 'The maintenance and Stage 2 East integration activities will continue as planned on June 14 and 15. During the weekend there is no train service on Line 1 and R1 bus service will be running between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations,' said Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar in a memo Thursday. The Line 1 east extension is getting closer to completion, with the Transit Committee hearing Thursday that the public is expected to be riding the train east from Blair Station to Trim Station in Orléans before the end of the year. The maintenance schedule for Line 1 also includes no train service on the entire line between 8 a.m. and noon on June 22 and on June 29, with R1 buses moving transit riders between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations during those times. Amilcar says these interruptions are required for additional adjustments to Line 1 service for Stage 2 East Extension integration work. A planned early closure on Thursday night did not happen, as Amilcar said work was completed ahead of schedule. Line 1 service was slated to be offline between uOttawa and Blair stations after 10 p.m. Thursday, with R1 bus service running between Rideau and Blair stations, but instead ran as normal until 1 a.m. 'Since June 6, Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) has been performing annual maintenance activities on O-Train Line 1. They have been able to accelerate some of the work, and as a result the early closure of Line 1 on Thursday, June 12 is no longer required,' Amilcar wrote. 'Customers have been advised through all our communication channels that Line 1 service will continue to operate until the normal closing time.'
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
What new OC Transpo funding means for special constables
Article content OC Transpo's special constables are counting on recent provincial funding to bolster their frontline numbers, increase officer visibility at transit stations and allow for 'more proactive, less reactive' enforcement. Article content 'The province recognized there could be improvements in public safety on transit and specifically in the downtown core,' said OC Transpo chief special constable Peter Scislowski. Article content Article content Article content The so-called 'New Deal for Ottawa' announced by the province last year includes $48 million in funding over three years to improve safety and security on transit and in the city's downtown core. Article content Article content That parcel of funding, announced in November 2024, followed the approval of the city's public safety plan and will increase the number of uniformed OC Transpo special constables on the transit system, along with funds for outreach and alternative mental health supports and the police neighbourhood operations centre near the ByWard Market. Article content OC Transpo currently has 56 frontline special constables and will be using the provincial funding to hire eight more officers in August and September. Article content 'The biggest focus for us is adding staff,' Scislowski said during a recent tour of the city's Transit Operations Control Centre (TOCC) on Belfast Road. The tour included a ridealong through some of the city's transit hotspots, from Tunney's Pasture to Rideau Station at the edge of the ByWard Market, and a look inside the police neighbourhood operations centre on Rideau Street. Article content Article content 'We're adequately staffed to respond to calls we receive right now, but it will improve that visibility for us at the stations. Our special constables are responding to calls from one end of the city to another and north to south… We want to have resources dedicated that are more proactive visibility on the system, and less reactive. Article content Article content The city received funding with the launch of Line 1 to improve its monitoring and response with eyes on more than 5,000 CCTV cameras across the transit network. Special constables and transit staff monitor thousands of cameras in the bustling open-space room, with wall-to-wall screens and a central map of all vehicles and their real-time locations on the road.
Ottawa Citizen
30-05-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa LRT service to be disrupted by summer maintenance work
OC Transpo has announced a schedule for summer maintenance operations and O-Train East Extension integration that will cause temporary disruptions of Line 1 LRT service. Article content Article content The required adjustments, detailed in a Friday memo to the mayor and city councillors from transit general manager Renée Amilcar, include: Article content June 6 after 9 p.m.: R1 replacement bus service between Tunney's Pasture and Hurdman stations; LRT service will continue between uOttawa and Blair stations. June 7 after 10 p.m., June 8 after 7 p.m., and June 12 after 10 p.m.: R1 buses between Rideau and Blair stations; LRT service will continue between Tunney's Pasture and uOttawa stations. June 14-15 all day, June 22 between 8 a.m. and 12 noon, and June 29 between 8 a.m. and 12 noon: R1 buses between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations. Article content Article content Amilcar's memo said all rail systems required regular maintenance operations to support 'the long-term sustainability and reliability of the system.' In addition, she wrote, OC Transpo had co-ordinated with the Stage 2 LRT project and the city's Infrastructure and Water Services Department to address multiple priorities. Article content Article content • Adjustments to track electrical grounding near Tunney's Pasture Station. Article content • General station maintenance and seasonal cleaning. Article content Article content • Continued testing and integration of the Stage 2 O-Train East Extension with Line 1. Article content Article content Additional work will be necessary to complete testing of the Line 1 extension east from Blair Station this summer, the memo added. 'It is also anticipated that additional Stage 2 integration work will occur on the weekends of July 5 and July 26 that will affect Line 1 service. More information on specific service adjustments will be provided closer to these dates. It is also anticipated that there will be additional impacts to Line 1 throughout the summer as the O-Train East Extension testing and commissioning progresses and, in the fall, to conduct rail grinding.' Article content
CTV News
30-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Here's when O-Train Line 1 service will be shutdown for maintenance this spring and summer
An O-Train on Line 1 pulls into Bayview Station in this undated image. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa) O-Train Line 1 will be shut down several times through the spring and summer for annual maintenance and work required for the O-Train East Extension integration ahead of the launch of service between Blair and Trim Road later this year. In a memo to council, Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar announced the plan for upcoming service adjustments on the Confederation Line in June and July. 'All rail systems require regular maintenance to support the long-term sustainability and reliability of the system,' Amilcar said. 'This year, in addition to working with Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM), OC Transpo has coordinated with the Stage 2 project and Infrastructure and Water Services Department (IWSD) in order to address multiple priorities in parallel to minimize the number of disruptions to rail service for customers.' Maintenance activities in June include: Line 1 train control server upgrades Localized rail replacement at 'specific locations' Ongoing upgrades of supporting wires on the overhead catenary system 'to make them more resilient and durable.' Adjustments to track electrical grounding near Tunney's Pasture Station General station maintenance and seasonal cleaning Testing and integration of the Stage 2 O-Train East Extension with Line 1 Here is the planned service adjustments for O-Train Line 1 June 6: No LRT service between Tunney's Pasture and Hurdman after 9 p.m. June 7: No LRT service between Rideau Station and Blair Station after 10 p.m. June 8: No LRT service between Rideau and Blair stations after 7 p.m. June 12: No LRT service between Rideau and Blair stations after 10 p.m. June 14-15: No LRT service all weekend. R1 bus service running along the O-Train Line June 22 and June 29: No LRT service between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. R1 bus service running along the O-Train Line OC Transpo OC Transpo announced planned closures for O-Train Line 1 between June 6 and 29. (OC Transpo release) R1 replacement bus service will run in areas where the LRT system is out of service for maintenance. Amilcar says additional Stage 2 integration work will occur on the weekends of July 5 and July 26 that will affect Line 1 service. 'Every effort has been made to conduct Stage 2 integration work at the same time as other maintenance activities; however, additional service adjustments are required to complete testing activities,' Amilcar said. 'It is also anticipated that there will be additional impacts to Line 1 throughout the summer as the O-Train East Extension testing and commissioning progresses and, in the fall, to conduct rail grinding.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Matthew Lau: Toronto the Good's continuing downward slide
Toronto, where I have lived my whole life, certainly has high points. There is the financial district, which is the second largest financial centre in North America and home to several good coffee shops. Toronto also features some excellent cuisine. Tyler Cowen, who in 2011 was listed among Foreign Policy's top 100 global thinkers and whose blog with Alex Tabarrok Time magazine ranked third-best financial blog, once concluded after a restaurant tour of Scarborough plus rolls from a Sri Lankan locale and lots of driving around, 'Scarborough is the best ethnic food suburb I have seen in my life, ever, and by an order of magnitude.' With all it has going for it, Toronto really should be a world-class city. But I fear if it continues on its current path, it will instead become an honorary third-world city — certainly with respect to the unreliability of its public transit system, its inept municipal management, its descent into lawlessness and social dysfunction, and its NHL team's dismal playoff performance. On this last point, explanations and proposed solutions vary; for the first three the causes are quite clear. If Milton Friedman's classic 1993 essay Why Government is the Problem were being written today, Toronto could feature prominently in it. The unreliability of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has recently become intolerable. Last Wednesday during evening rush hour the TTC shut down a significant stretch of its Line 1 subway for two and a quarter hours. Just before 5:30 p.m., service was suspended from Lawrence to St. Clair due to a track-level injury at Eglinton (three stations spanning five kilometres of track). Also around that time, northbound passengers at a major interchange, Bloor-Yonge, were kicked off their train, causing significant overflow that took some time to clear. Later the initial service suspension was extended south to include Bloor-Yonge — making seven stops in all. Service was not restored until around 7:45 p.m. This was the second serious subway outage in less than a week: the previous Thursday, a significant part of the other major line was shut down for much of the day due to an oil leakage from a subway work car. Mass public transit chaos has become almost commonplace since last winter. In mid-December, the TTC experienced lengthy shutdowns during the morning rush hour on no less than three days, with varying causes, including a trespasser on the tracks, multiple signal issues and a lost raccoon wandering the rails. Then in February, extensive TTC delays were blamed on snow and ice. In a further demonstration of the City of Toronto's inability to provide basic municipal services, snow piled up everywhere, with some sidewalks taking three weeks to clear. It was later reported that of the city's 59 pieces of winter sidewalk-clearing equipment, nearly half were out of commission on average during the three days of heaviest snowfall. More evidence of a city headed towards third-world status: increased lawlessness. The joke is that TTC really stands for 'Take The Car,' but last year that became the police's recommended phrase for homeowners to tell criminals. Amidst rising car thefts, one police officer suggested homeowners leave car keys at the front door to prevent a home invasion by criminals: just let the criminals take the car. After reaching all-time highs, car thievery now seems to be abating, but there are other trends in the wrong direction. Matthew Lau: Minimum wages are even more harmful than we thought Matthew Lau: Lessons for Canada in Argentina's newly freed markets There has been an explosion of antisemitic hate crimes in Toronto in the past two years. In recent weeks mobs have continued to attack Jewish businesses and block streets, in one case forcing police to divert an ambulance. There are increasingly common news stories of attacks on and vandalism of synagogues and Jewish businesses, and even antisemitism in public schools. Don't get me wrong. It is still possible to live a good life in Toronto. Trudging 20 or 30 minutes every so often, even in snow or rain, because the TTC has again broken down is not that great a hardship for me. I am only a very casual Leafs fan, Sportsnet turfing Don Cherry in 2019 having dulled my hockey enthusiasm, while the sight of empty arenas during the pandemic killed off most of the rest. But for many other Torontonians, the unreliability of the TTC and other municipal services, the hapless Leafs, the increased crime and the growing antisemitism weigh much more heavily. Toronto still has much to offer, but only if these problems are solved. Solid political leadership and better hockey players are needed. Matthew Lau is a Toronto writer. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
