Almost four years after its launch, Ottawa residents have become used to the unreliability of the city’s light rapid transit system, the LRT. As I write this, there is no timeline for the train to return to service.

Proponents of the train may feel I am overly harsh with my criticism. When the system works, it works well. Unfortunately, it frequently doesn’t work.

Other cities with LRT systems don’t have the problems Ottawa does. No-one seems to be able to explain why.

We already knew that snow was an issue. And cold. And rain. Not to mention the two weeks of disruptions in June for annual maintenance, incluing some days with no service..

On Monday the train was stopped during rush hour due to a technical issue. Today it was announced that the train will return to service after each of the bearings on each of the trains is inspected. I wonder why that wasn’t done in June during the maintenance period. Or if it was, how have things deteriorated so quickly that it is no longer safe to operate the system?

At least the shutdown comes before a derailment from a bearing failure, as happened two years ago.

A few months ago I saw a website that was detailing how many days of service the LRT had missed this year. I can’t find it now, but there is a citizen-run site with all the latest updates on the disruption.

Ottawa’s LRT system has two different types of trains, and the latest problems are all with the electric ones on the newer line. Unfortunately that isn’t because the diesel trains are more reliable. Well, actually they are, when they run. The line running diesel trains was closed for expansion a few years ago. It is slated to reopen in August 2022, if my memory serves me correctly. And no, that isn’t a typo.

With luck that LRT line will open in January 2024. With new trains, that I suspect have never been tested in a Canadian winter.

Maybe the people who run the LRT have learned during the past four years how to keep the system up and running. It sure doesn’t feel like it though.