Service interruptions, breakdowns, derailment, lack of information. In Ottawa, the light rail “fiasco” will be the subject of a public inquiry by the Ontario government. And if several questions remain unanswered, one observation seems clear: the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) and the Quebec City tramway can draw some lessons from it.
“This project has become a bit of a laughing stock in North America. It highlights certain pitfalls, ”summarizes the expert in transport planning at the University of Montreal Pierre Barrieau.
Ottawa’s light rail, a 12.5 km, 13-station power grid, was initially valued at around $ 2.1 billion. It was inaugurated in September 2019, 456 days late. The federal government bears a significant portion of the costs, along with the Ontario government and the OC Transpo transportation company, as well as Groupe de transport Rideau, a consortium of companies.
From the outset, the project had its share of problems: elevator failures, broken doors, power supply problems and other unforeseen events put a strain on the first six months of the network’s life.
Even though tests have been carried out to ensure that Alstom’s train systems can operate at -40 ° C, they seem to be poorly able to withstand winter.
The project was launched just as work on the REM was starting in Montreal.
According to Pierre Barrieau, the first lesson of the Ottawa light rail “should be a questioning of procurement processes which sometimes only give one winner” in Canada. He says that in Montreal, the REM, a light electric train valued at $ 10 billion, took the “sane option” of getting companies to bid on four separate contracts, including the design and operation of the network. automated train, rolling stock and construction of a tunnel in Montreal-North.
No more competition
This way of operating would be all the more necessary when we know that in Ottawa, the tender process surrounding the light rail is “controversial” to say the least, says the professor of municipal law at the University of Ottawa and former city councilor Stéphane Émard-Chabot. “We recently learned that the winning consortium was not the one that had the best technical score in its assessment. It raises a lot of questions, ”he argues.
“We really have to allow more competition in the market to prevent such cases from happening again. The EMN can also learn from this, by ensuring that all stakeholders are strong. In Ottawa, we saw a lot of gray areas in terms of governance, ”continues Mr. Barrieau.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, PRESS ARCHIVES
The Ottawa light rail was inaugurated in September 2019.
But according to him, where the example of Ottawa will be the most enlightening, it is in Quebec, where we have been preparing for years a tramway project of nearly 20 km. “The capital city tram is a very similar project. It is the same vehicle size, with a section which is also mainly exterior with an interior underground segment, and with comparable frequency and ridership. In short, Quebec has a lot to learn from all of this, ”he says.
In the office of the Quebec Minister for Transport, Chantal Rouleau, we say we are “well aware” of the “technical” problems experienced with the Ottawa train. “For the REM, we have an extremely rigorous partner in CDPQ Infra. We have confidence in them to deliver a project that is among the most efficient, reliable and secure in the world, ”says press secretary Catherine Boucher.
Joined by Press, the Caisse de dépôt, recalls that the REM is a light metro “which is a technology different from that of Ottawa”, especially since the network “was the subject of a specific winter design in addition to have been tested in a climatic chamber renowned worldwide to confirm the robustness of the system under extreme conditions ”. A battery of tests was also carried out on a representative segment to ensure the functionality of the trains and their particularities, including the landing doors.
“The contractual mechanism between the REM and its suppliers is linked to important performance criteria which include the design, production and operation of the transport system”, it is also recalled. Despite everything, the spokesperson, Jean-Vincent Lacroix, adds: “We remain on the lookout for any experience lived here and elsewhere, in order to learn the best from it. […] We are confident for the future. “
“Very difficult to have the details”
At the Ottawa Public Transport Users Group, spokesperson Laura Shantz hopes that the Caisse de dépôt will be more transparent in the implementation of the REM.
“Here, we find details in a trickle, behind a closed door that even city councilors cannot get around. It is really very difficult to have the details of the project. Not only does that make mistakes more likely, but it also lowers confidence, and therefore, public support, ”she laments.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, PRESS ARCHIVES
REM work carried out last September in the West Island of Montreal
“We have the impression that in Quebec, the public is more at the center of decisions, or at least has a little more influence,” she adds. This is what we would need here. “
Mme Shantz believes that the too large place given to the private sector – the light rail is operated by Groupe de transport Rideau, among others – does nothing to reduce this opacity. “It’s always better if the government is really involved in making sure the money is well managed. Here, it is always secret, we do not have the exact time. This is, in my opinion, the big trap to avoid, ”emphasizes l’Ottavienne.
A crucial investigation
In Ontario, the government of Doug Ford has just launched a public inquiry into the problems surrounding light rail, two months after the Confederation Line was suspended for several days due to a train derailment. Transport Minister Caroline Mulroney says she expects to receive a detailed report “on what happened”.
“We will have to see clearly where the failures have been, so that it sets a precedent,” says Professor Stéphane Émard-Chabot. “Everyone has their suspicions on the technical side of the product that was purchased, especially since it was the first time that this train was sold on the North American market. Everyone is likely to learn a lot of lessons in terms of the purchasing process, product identification and, more generally, how it got started, ”he says.
In his opinion, “there will be a lot of political interest in understanding what happened”, especially to prevent it from happening again in Montreal or elsewhere. “This light rail was supposed to be the backbone of the Ottawa network. If it does not work, the whole city does not work, ”concludes Mr. Émard-Chabot.