Line 1 LRT loses power, malfunctions in pair of weekend incidents

OttawaTechnical problems caused the O-Train Line 1 to stop operating twice over the past three days, according to the city’s acting general manager of transit services. Both incidents have now been resolved.Service was already reduced for scheduled workCBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2025 2:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoTransit riders are warned of a service disruption at Tremblay station in this photo from 2023. A power outage and a switch mechanism malfunction caused two LRT Line 1 service disruptions this weekend, according to the City of Ottawa’s acting general manager of transit services (David Bates/Radio-Canada)Technical problems caused the O-Train Line 1 to stop operating twice over the past three days, according to the city’s acting general manager of transit services.At around 6:30 p.m. Friday, a power outage halted the east-west LRT line between Tunney’s Pasture and Rideau stations, according to a memo from Troy Charter to Ottawa city council.Replacement R1 buses ran until the train came back online, Charter said.Then on Sunday morning, Line 1 didn’t launch between Tunney’s Pasture and Tremblay stations due to a “malfunction with the switch mechanism at the crossover near uOttawa station,” Charter wrote in a followup memo.Once again, replacement buses were called into service. The line was running again between Tunney’s Pasture and Tremblay by around 12:45 p.m., Charter said.Line 1 service was already being scaled back this weekend as part of scheduled work on the line’s eastern extension from Blair to Trim stations, as well as work on the St-Laurent station tunnel. Expired joints, cracked pipes: new details emerge about leaky LRT tunnel at St-Laurent The power disruption and the switch mechanism malfunction were not related, Charter said. Nor were either related to the eastern extension work, he added.Due to the scheduled work, replacement buses continue to run Sunday between Hurdman and Blair stations. Full service is expected to resume across the entirety of Line 1 on Monday morning.