What caused shutdown of Orange line? STM not quite sure

The STM is still trying to figure out exactly what led toapartial shutdown ofthe Orange line for much of Saturday.

Amelie Rgis, a spokesperson for the Socitde transport deMontral, said in an email Sunday theproblem may have originated with a tire onan AZUR train, which resulted in damage to the track.

Or there may have already been problems with the track, which led to the tire being damaged.

A stretch of the Orange line at one point between Cte-Vertu andLionel-Groulx was closedfrom Saturday afternoon until the end of the day.Service resumed Sunday morning.

Blame the AZUR?

A shuttle bus service was made available as an alternative, but there were long lines and many commuters complained about the way the situation was handled. The STM initially said the closure would last 45 minutes.

On Sunday, Rgisdefended how the transit agency responded to the shutdown.

Buses can only accommodate about 75 people, while a train can carry 1,000, she said.

"Buses will never be able to replace the Metro, but given the circumstanceswe reacted well to the situation with a major shuttle service," she said.

Rgis said it's too soon to say whether the problem has anything to do with the new AZURtrains, which are beingphasedin on the Orange line.

The first car was rolled out last spring.

The shutdown comes only weeks after the STM promised better communication and service heading into 2017.

Service on other Metro lineswas not affected.

'Clear problems,' Opposition says

CraigSauv, aProjetMontralcity councilor and the party's transport critic, was among those stuck on the Orange line when it stopped running.

He said the incident is further proof there are"clear problems with public transit in Montreal."

Sauvintroduced amotion at city council calling for more transparency on the origin of those problems.It didn't pass.

A total of 52 AZURtrains will be brought into service by 2018.

The 468 new cars are being built by theBombardier-Alstomconsortium, at a costof $1.2 billion.

• More Metros, more buses, better service promised across the STM
• Amid rash of shutdowns, take a look inside the Metro's operations centre