Ottawa's rail director Michael Morgan to resign this fall

UPDATE: Richard Holder was announced as Michael Morgan's permanent replacement in the position of director of rail constructionon Sept. 12, 2024. The City of Ottawa is now searching to fill Holder's previous position of director of transit engineering.

The City of Ottawa is losing its rail director, in the midst of ongoing legal problems and just as the delayed north-south Trillium Line inches closer to opening.

Michael Morgan has resigned his OC Transpo post as director of rail construction and will leave the City this fall, according to a memo sent Wednesday to councillors.

"He will be leaving the City to pursue other opportunities," wrote Rene Amilcar, the city's transit general manager."Michael will remain at the City until early fall to provide support through the transition."

Richard Holder, the city's engineering director, willtemporarily fill Morgan's role as the city searches for a replacement, said Amilcar, in recognition of the Trillium Line's"immediate and paramount importance to the City."

An executive recruitment process is already underway, Amilcar said.

Morgan's departure leaves a vacancy in a role important to the launch and running of the light-rail system, at a time when public pressure is on the transit agency on issues related to both financial viability and safety.

In the past few months, the city has announced new, multi-million-dollar settlement talks with contractors. Its private partners have failed to provide a solution to ongoing technical problems that led to a derailment on the Confederation Line. And the city hasannounced an LRT service cut during off-peak hours.

• OC Transpo to cut midday LRT service frequency to 10 minutes

• Ottawa's LRT testing has a troubled past. Here's how it'll work with the Trillium Line

Experienced engineer

Morgan began working for the City of Ottawa in late 2014 and was promoted to the director position in 2019, when the east-west Confederation Line was about to launch.

The professional engineer brought with him years of experience on rail systems around the world, including in South Korea, Australia, New York and Vancouver.

Already well acquainted with public-private partnerships, Morgan became a point person for the city's contractors, councillors and media often staying after his lengthy appearances at transit commissions to answer technical issues and provide context for city decisions.

During the Ottawa LRT Public Inquiry, Morgan appeared in person to answer questions about the process of trial running and the secretive WhatsApp messaging group, where information was shared with a select few.

Morgan was questioned about issues with trial running, and the lowering of the bar for testing.

"What we saw on the ground wasn't matching what [the contractors] were telling us," he said. "That was a huge challenge, probably the biggest challenge for the project was just the lack of understanding of when the project was going to be finished."

He also noted the need to maintain the city's reputation as a good partner, including avoiding legal disputes that would "sour" the relationship.

Morgan was also among the five-person technical evaluation team that originally failed the bid by Atkins Realiscalled SNC-Lavalin at the timeto construct the Trillium Line extension.

• SNC-Lavalin's 'poor' LRT bid should have been tossed, evaluators found

• How the bar for LRT trial running was lowered then lowered some more

Ongoing issues

OC Transpo will now search for a new rail manager, as it navigates significant system changes to both its LRT and bus services.

The Trillium Line's launch date remains uncertain, though staff have told councillors that it is nearing the start of trial running and could begin accepting passengers this fall.

Once that happens, the city will launch its "new ways to bus" schedule changes a euphemistic term for cuts achieved through "route optimization."

At the same time, extensions to both ends of the east-west Confederation Line remain under construction and are slated to open sometime in 2025 and 2026.

It's unclear at this point if OC Transpo will be able to secure the funding to move forward with a further extension to Kanata, Barrhaven and Stittsville.

The city has recently faced challenges in hiring qualified bureaucrats, including the prolonged search for a new general manager of the planning department.