Some double-car trains have returned to O-Train Line 1 after months of single-car service on the line. In a news release on Wednesday evening, OC Transpo said it will begin to “ramp up” capacity on the line. OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary said in a news conference Tuesday that full service is expected to return by mid-June. OC Transpo says there will be a mix of both two and one-car trains running on the line. The frequency and hours of operations of Line 1 will stay the same, with trips every three to four minutes during peak periods. “I’m happy to share that this morning’s Line 1 service started with a mixture of single-car trains and some double-car trains. That means there’s more capacity for customers during peak periods, and service continues to operate every three to four minutes,” assistant general manager Troy Charter said at Thursday’s transit committee meeting. The O-Train Line 1 has been running single-car trains since January when a spalling issue was detected on some trains. Charter said there are now 28 trains with cartridge bearing assemblies under the 100,000-kilometre mileage level that was put in place in January. He expects to have 34 vehicles available by mid-June to restore full service on Line 1. Charter also said OC Transpo has now secured all necessary vibration sensors for the O-Train fleet and some have started to arrive. “Once installed, these sensors are able to detect abnormal vibrations, offering near real-time assessment, ensuring the continued safe operation of our fleet,” Charter said. “Following a short period of validation, the data will be reviewed and will form the next steps, including the installation of these sensors across the entire fleet.” East extension timing There is still no timeline for the east extension. The extension to Orléans achieved substantial completion in March, but a lack of available trains due to the spalling issue meant that the critical trial running phase could not begin. A presentation for the transit committee said east extension timing would be finalized in the summer. Earlier this week, Leary said his focus was on getting full service restored on Line 1 and it was too soon to predict when trial running could begin on the east extension. “We’ve talked about mid-June, having 34 vehicles available for service. We need more than that to do the trial running for the east extension,” Charter told councillors. “But then as well, the condition monitoring allows us to be able to maintain the amount of kilometers on an increased fleet and increased service levels for the entire fleet of vehicles. So, we really need those two things to happen.”
