Signalling system causes major Metro LRT Line disruptions

The troubled signalling system on the Metro LRT line led to 11 service delays in Novemberand the city still doesn't know when the line will be fully operational.

In a report released Monday, city staff describe nine system faults that led to five to 10-minutedelays on the line.

Staff said the system also caused two major delays last month. On Nov.16,buses had to be called in to replace the line when the system went down for several hours, and on Nov.26 the line was shut down for half an hour.

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LRT design and construction manager Wayne Mandryk said the signalling contractor, Thales, is working to fix the glitches that caused the delays.

Meanwhile, council's hopes that theline would get up to normalspeed by the end of the year have been dashed.

Trains were originally supposed to start running from Churchill Station to NAIT in April 2014, but problems with the signalling system postponed the opening several times.

Since September, trains have been operating at reduced frequency at a maximum of 25 km/h, giving operators enough distance to stop if they see something on the tracks.

A third-party consultant is tryingto verify the safety of the signalling system.

The consultant, Rail Safety Consulting, said more work is needed before it can give the system the green lightand there is still no date for when it will be fully up and running.

Mandryk said the consultant did not find any safety issues but some documentation is still missing.

He said Rail Safety Consulting will now do a "deeper audit" of the documents.

"We are as disappointed as anybody," Mandryk said. "But we're not compromising safety."

The only good news, according to city staff, is that bus transit around the line could become more reliable in the new year.

The city made changes to route 130 in early November which has helped the bus keep to the schedule. More changes are planned to route 8, 9 and 12 in February which staff hope will improve reliability for other transit riders.

The city gets between six and 10 calls or emails complaining of traffic delays around the Metro Line every weekday.