OTTAWA — Damage to sections of catenary from a lightning strike led to disruption of light rail service on the O-Train Confederation Line on Monday, and the problems will take several days to repair, OC Transpo’s general manager has told city council members.
The Ottawa Citizen reports catenary wires were downed between the uOttawa and Lees stations by a Sunday night storm; equipment manufacturer Alstom is sending additional workers to aid in repairs.
OC Transpo had announced buses were replacing light rail service on most of the Confederation Line early Monday, initially saying only that a technical problem was responsible. The agency hopes to have more of the line in operation by Tuesday, but will continue to operate a bus bridge to connect the two sections in operation.
The operational issues come after the agency removed several of its Alstom light rail vehicles from service on Saturday because of mechanical issues [see “Axle problem sidelines Ottawa light rail equipment,” Trains News Wire, July 25, 2022].
It is not nice to fool with mother nature. However, CAT at 600 volts should have had better protection unless the strike which is highly possiblle fried (melted) the CAT to the protection point(s). Do not know if 2 wire contact wire and traveler wire or 3. Definitely if so a majpr cppnstrction project if Alstom sending workeers. Question did any cars get fried?
Forgot about the lighting might have been a ground to cloud. Those have much more voltage and current. If that was the case then the strike could have happened past the 1st or second protection location(s). Current could have melted a lot of wire.
Maybe someone find a more detailed report of damage.