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OC Transpo is dealing with another downed overhead wire Friday, this time at Blair station. Line 1 remains closed east of uOttawa station with replacement buses in service.
A wire on the overhead power system broke near Lees station during Wednesday’s freezing rainstorm, triggering the partial closure.
That wire was fixed Thursday and crews set to work clearing ice from the wires within the closed section, according to OC Transpo’s interim general manager Troy Charter.
OC Transpo had said Thursday night that it expected full Line 1 service to resume on Friday.
But between memos from Charter at 10:10 p.m. Thursday and 6:40 a.m. Friday, there was what Charter first called “a new issue with the Overhead Catenary System (OCS ) in the east end of Line 1.”
CBC News saw an overhead wire draped over a stopped train at Blair station around that time.
A broken overhead wire and part of the catenary system atop a stopped train at Blair station on Friday. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
Charter said in another memo around 11:45 a.m. there were two early morning power problems near Tremblay and Blair stations, including the fallen Blair wire, and that they both seem to be related to Wednesday’s freezing rain.
Rideau Transit Maintenance is towing three stopped trains between Lees and Blair, then work will begin to fix the Blair station wire, Charter said. This work is expected to take most of Friday.
Replacement buses remain
Trains are running between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations.
Replacement buses are serving stations between Lyon and Blair, with the usual shuttle between Cyrville and St-Laurent.
It’s not the first time that overhead power system has been the source of problems on the LRT network, with others in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Service on Line 1 is also reduced because of a wheel problem detected in January.