Four months into a 30-year contract with Rideau Transit Maintenance to keep the Confederation Line running smoothly, some city officials say the relationship is already faltering.
One outspoken transit commissioner is even calling for the city to break the $1 billion long-term deal, and bring the maintenance of the trains in-house.
“Because clearly, holding back the money is not enough incentive for them to do their job,” said Sarah Wright-Gilbert, one of the commission’s four appointed citizen members.
Since the Confederation Line launched in mid-September, the city hasn’t paid Rideau Transit a cent. Its monthly payments are supposed to be $4.5 to $5 million, so the group is currently out up to $20 million.
Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) is an arm of Rideau Transit Group (RTG), the partnership between ACS Infrastructure, SNC-Lavalin and Ellis Don that built Ottawa’s $2.1-billion Confederation Line.
RTM is in charge of maintaining the entire LRT system, including the Alstom Citadis Spirit light rail vehicles. RTM actually subcontracts the maintenance of the trains themselves to France-based Alstom, which did not respond to questions Tuesday.
LRT trains have been having technical issues in recent days, some related to snow and cold temperatures. (Andrew Lee/CBC)
Not yet the ‘last straw’
In the last week alone, one train somehow pulled down 80 metres of overhead electrical cable, and other trains had issues with their wheels, causing them to skid and smoke. Switch issues over the weekend caused hours of delay.
When RTG handed over control of the LRT to the city last August, the system was supposed to come with 17 double-car, fully tested and commissioned trains. It’s now unclear whether all 17 ever worked.
These last few days, so many trains have had issues that, at times, only eight or nine have been available to carry passengers.
Transit chair Coun. Allan Hubley pinned the recent problems on RTM not meeting the city’s expectations for maintaining trains and dealing with winter-related issues.
Hubley and his colleagues will be looking for answers from Rideau Transit CEO Peter Lauch, who is set to appear at an emergency transit commission called for Thursday afternoon.
But unlike Wright-Gilbert, Hubley doesn’t believe the LRT’s issues have become so dire that the city should go through the complicated legal process of breaking from RTM.
“That’s bad news if we have to go that route. To me, that’s the last straw [when] we’re absolutely convinced they don’t have the expertise to do what they’re supposed to do.”
Mayor Jim Watson agreed that it is too early to be talking about the possibility of pulling out of the maintenance contract.
“I think most members of the public want us to deal with getting the damn trains fixed, first and foremost, and then deal with repercussions with the consortium,” said Watson, adding he has had no discussions about possible litigation.
O-Train Line 1: Afternoon peak services normally use 13 trains for a train every 4 minutes. RTM has provided 10 trains. Trains will run approximately every 5 minutes. <a href=”https://t.co/dHTT4UcS2c”>https://t.co/dHTT4UcS2c</a>
In recent days, the city has made a point of emphasizing how it’s RTG that is failing commuters, and not the city.
It appears OC Transpo boss John Manconi is less willing to speak for RTG — at the news conference last Thursday to address the collapsed 80 metres of electrical cable, Manconi stood at the back, behind reporters. At the next day’s news conference, Manconi sat at the table with other officials, but said little.
Instead, it appears that the city is insisting that Rideau Transit’s Lauch, who has rarely spoken to the media over the years of this project, be on hand to answer questions.
The city appears to be insisting that Rideau Transit CEO Peter Lauch attend news conferences to personally answer questions from reporters about the problems with the LRT. (CBC)
While city officials are at pains to focus the blame for the problems on RTM, it is difficult to see what the city can do at this point to improve the system other than holding back maintenance payments — a strategy that doesn’t seem to be fixing the trains any faster.
As Hubley said: “It’s big money. Wouldn’t you love to be making $5 million to do a job? Get to work and do the job.”
Watson is still confident that withholding payments is effective leverage because it hits RTM “in the pocketbook and also hurts their credibility and reputation both nationally and worldwide.
“But my concern and my preoccupation and that of our staff has been to get these problems resolved find the root causes of some of the problems that continue to happen.”
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
