OTTAWA, Ontario — Alstom is no longer working on an axle redesign for Ottawa’s light rail vehicles, previously presented as the solution to problems that have plagued the city’s Confederation line for three years.
CTV News reports that a report prepared for an upcoming meeting of the city’s Transit Commission and Light Rail Transit Committee says the manufacturer of the Citadis Spirit light rail equipment believes wheel-rail interface issues have contributed to the problems. Alstom is recommending actions including use of “higher strength” rails on curves, gauge-face lubrication, railhead reprofiling, and ballast strengthening. The last two measures, at least, will be addressed during a partial shutdown of the line planned for October, although CTV reports other details on that project have not been released.
The city, however, has not yet accepted Alstom’s analysis, is continuing its own review of the Alstom report, and wants the axle redesign work to go on. As quoted by the CBC, the report says the city “has formally communicated the imperative for the re-design work to re-commence.
The axle redesign was announced last year as the long-term solution to issues with axle bearings that have led to at least three shutdowns of the Confederation Line, including a 28-day outage last summer [see “Ottawa light rail set for full return,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 14, 2023]. That project was expected to take more than a year; in the interim, Alstom and system operator Rideau Transit Group had undertaken short-term solutions including changes to wheel hub assemblies and repositioning of restraining rails on curves to prevent contact with wheelsets.
Why don’t they just use steerable trucks like the big boys do? Seems and easier fix, especially for transit and light rail trains that have much tighter turns…
Doesn’t anyone find it odd that the only location experiencing problems with those vehicles is Ottawa? None of the other transit operators using the Citadis Spirit seem to be having the same issues…which tells me it’s not the axles but a problem with the rail system itself.