As Ottawa’s light-rail transit system stretches into its second week out of service following a derailment, the city manager says he’s replacing the firm tasked with overseeing a return to service on the Confederation Line over concerns of “public trust.”
After a train derailed near Tremblay Station on Sept. 19, Ottawa’s transit commission decided it would hire an independent safety expert to sign off on Rideau Transit Group’s return-to-service plans.
The engineering firm originally selected for the job, STV, drew criticism for its selection, as it had worked on the Stage 1 LRT project as a consultant, throwing the question of the reviewer’s independence and objectivity into doubt.
Steve Kanellakos sent a memo to city council on Tuesday, clarifying that STV was not involved in the design of the Confederation Line and has not directly provided services to RTG, and adding that the firm would endeavour to manage any potential conflicts in the contract.
Despite his defences of the pick, he said any perceived conflict of interest would not bode well for restoring public confidence in the troubled line, which has faced two derailments in the span of six weeks.
“While the objectivity and expertise of STV is not in question in any way, I also recognize that public trust related to all aspects of the Confederation Line is low right now, and I do not want any perception challenges to get in the way of residents’ confidence in the findings and verification of the independent reviewer,” Kanellakos wrote.
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Kanellakos cancelled the pending deal with STV and said he would work with Sam Berrada, city council’s regulatory monitoring compliance officer, to find a new company for the job.
He added briefly that “there are very few firms with the necessary expertise that have not been engaged in some aspect of the city’s LRT project, however, best efforts will be made to find a firm that meets the spirit of the Transit Commissions’ direction to staff.”
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No timeline has been given for when the LRT line will be restored either to full or partial service following the latest derailment, though RTG officials have speculated it could take weeks.
The new independent safety expert will need to be retained and give a stamp of approval to RTG’s plan before trains start running on the Confederation Line again.
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