.. or is it?

Yesterday I mentioned that I had wanted to link to the online clock that showed how long Ottawa’s LRT had been out of operation, but I couldn’t find it. Today someone put it up.

The clock I remember was cumulative, showing how long the light rail service had been out of commission this year. My memory though could be faulty – I didn’t pay that close attention to it.

The current version (click on the link) deals only with the present outage. That started Monday around 5 p.m. and continues. There have been suggestions that the issue with wheel bearings is the same as the one that kept the train off the tracks for more than a month in 2021.

Several years ago, when OC Transpo first announced that it was buying an unproven new train for the new LRT Line I wasn’t concerned. With any new technology someone has to be first, and I thought they probably got a good deal by agreeing to be the guinea pig.

After four years of issues, with the train breaking down in snow, in rain, in heat and in sunshine, it’s obvious I was wrong. Ottawa is saddled with a defective product and apparently the manufacturer has no idea how to fix it. As a taxpayer I want my money back.

Next time, let someone else be first.