O-Train elevators failed hundreds of times over 18 months, data shows

Trim LRT station in Ottawa on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)

Passengers riding on the O-Train were met with hundreds of elevator outages at stations over an 18-month period, according to new data released by OC Transpo.

City staff provided the data in a response to an inquiry by Coun. Marty Carr, who asked staff to indicate how many times elevators on Lines 1, 2 and 4 have been out of service and why. The data was released in advance of next week’s transit committee meeting.

The city says O-Train Line 1 saw 435 unplanned elevator outages between Sept. 2024 and Feb. 2026. The highest-impact stations were Blair (92 outages), Rideau (85 outages), Lyon (62 outages), and St-Laurent (44 outages).

Oct. 2025 was the month with the highest number of outages with 39 total incidents.

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The most common causes of outages on Line 1 were from debris and salt, drive equipment failures, door component issues, car component problems and hydraulics.

City staff specifically pointed to issues with one elevator at Blair Station, which saw 58 unplanned outages during the reporting period. The single elevator located on the north platform is part of the former Transitway bus infrastructure and does not meet the redundancy requirements of the current system, staff say.

OC Transpo says it implements a shuttle system for passengers who cannot take the stairs when there are service interruptions.

A project is underway to install two new elevators. The first is expected to be completed by late 2027 with the next expected to be finished one year later.

Elevator outages were much improved on O-Train Lines 2 and 4, with 91 outages in the same 18-month period.

The most common causes of unplanned outages on those lines were call button failures, car component problems, control board failures, debris in sill and issues with door components.

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OC Transpo also provided data for elevators at bus-only stations. A total of 72 outages were seen during the reporting period, with South Keys (16 outages), Billings Bridge (13 outages) and Longfields (10 outages) recording the highest number of incidents.

Four stations recorded no outages. The elevator service availability at bus-only stations was 99.29 per cent, the data shows.

OC Transpo says it is reviewing maintenance approaches at those stations to improve performance.

OC Transpo notes that maintenance of elevators across the networks is managed through three separate contracts. Rideau Transit Maintenance is responsible for elevators along O-Train Line 1, while Transit Next (TNEXT) is responsible for elevator maintenance on Lines 2 and 4.

OC Transpo manages elevators at bus-only stations with an external vendor for maintenance and repairs.

Unplanned elevator outages on O-Train Line 1 (Sept. 2024-Feb 2026):

• Tunney’s Pasture: 14
• Bayview: 16
• Pimisi: 23
• Lyon: 62
• Parliament: 34
• Rideau: 85
• uOttawa: 11
• Lees: 20
• Hurdman: 21
• Tremblay: 11
• St-Laurent: 44
• Cyrville: 2
• Blair: 92

Unplanned elevator outages on Lines 2 and 4 (Sept. 2024-Feb 2026):

• Limebank: 27
• Bowesville: 14
• Leitrim: 14
• South Keys: 4
• Walkley: 3
• Dows: 5
• Corso Italia: 8
• Uplands: 16