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Partial LRT service slated to resume Tuesday morning – Ottawa Citizen

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Starting at 5 a.m. transit users will be able to take the LRT between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations.

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Partial Line 1 service is to resume Tuesday morning, after a 21-day shutdown, OC Transpo announced Monday.

Starting at 5 a.m., transit users will be able to take the LRT between the Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations. Five single-car trains will be in operation, running every five minutes. Each train can carry 300 passengers. 

Single-car trains only use half the platform. Transit users are being asked to board in the area of the platform marked with decals.

R1, R1 Express and Para R1 services will continue to operate with no changes. There’s an additional train available that can be used during peak periods.

“We are very, very confident that with single cars and the level of ridership we have we can easily handle everything,” said Renée Amilcar, Ottawa’s transit services general manager.

The $2.1-billion Confederation Line was shut down on July 17 after excess grease was found on the axle of one light rail vehicle during a routine inspection.

The original plan was to return to limited service on July 31, using single cars. But that plan was cancelled on July 28 to allow for a risk assessment to be conducted to protect the rails and the vehicles.

Last week, the city announced that it would open Line 1 in its entirety on Aug. 14 after the restraining rails, a passive safety device used to prevent derailments, were repositioned to prevent contact with the wheels of the train. The job requires doing this exacting work on 16 curves on the line.

However, the required work between the Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations has already been completed. After trial running in this section to confirm that it is safe, OC Transpo decided to open that stretch, the city announced Monday.  

“The decision was made once we knew we had sufficient documentation to support the partial opening,” said Richard Holder, Ottawa’s director of engineering services.

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OTTAWA, Aug. 4, 2023: Screen shot of Richard Holder, City of Ottawa director of engineering services, from a YouTube presentation of the City of Ottawa’s update about the LRT system on Friday, Aug, 4, 2023. Photo by City of Ottawa/YouTube /jpg

Typically, at this time of year, 11 double-car trains would be in operation on the system. OC Transpo is working with the Rideau Transit Group to maximize the number of trains available.

Train riders may notice slower train speeds in the tunnel, due to a speed restriction as part of safety requirements.

At the same time, workers will continue to work on the restraining rails on the curves on the eastern portion of Line 1, where there are more curves and more restraining rails to be adjusted, Amilcar said.

It is expected that all of Line 1 — including more trains — will be in service starting Aug. 14. 

What about those troublesome tight curves?

Holder said straightening the rails is not in the cards.

“We are experiencing issues right now. But it’s not a case that we need to eliminate those curves,” said Holder.  “And it’s not the situation that we could have avoided those curves.” 

A long curve in the Ottawa LRT tracks at Hurdman Station on Aug. 6, 2023. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

The restraining rails have to be repositioned a very small amount, between one and two millimetres, so the wheels are not in contact with the restraining rails.

The question of whether the curves are a design flaw has come up a number of times. Holder said the city has received a number of public inquiries about straightening the tight curves.

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“If we had a lot of engineers designing a light rail system, we would make it straight. But we had to build a system in Ottawa. We had to connect a lot of infrastructure together,” said Holder.

The stretch on Line 1 with the tightest curves is around the Lees, Hurdman and Tremblay stations, he said.

When the system was being designed, it had to connect a number of significant pieces of infrastructure, including a crossing of the Rideau River and a large watermain pumping station just east of Hurdman that supplies the east end of the city with water, which would have been expensive and difficult to move. East of that is a bridge adjacent to the rail. At one spot, the LRT line runs next to a VIA Rail line.

That meant that the design of the system had curves that are considered relatively tight, said Holder. “But this is well within the realm of a light rail system,” said Holder.

The infrastructure and the specifications for the light rail vehicles were common for light rail systems around the world, he said.

“These systems are designed for urban areas for vehicles to actually run on downtown streets where the radius of the curves is much tighter than the curves we have around Hurdman and Lees,” said Holder.

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What about the axle hub assemblies?

In the long run, the plan is to redesign the axle hubs. The process, including creating a prototype and testing it, could take two to three years. In the meantime, the axles will be replaced more frequently. Other measures are also under consideration, including lubricating the rails.

“We’re dealing with maintenance issues right now. And the fixes that we’ve talked about and that we’ve outlined will ultimately resolve those issues,” said Holder.

The restraining rails on the tight curves are a contributing factor, but there are a number of issues to the “root cause” for the problem of the fatigue on the bearings in the hub assembly of the train.

File photo/ People catch a bus at Hurdman Station in Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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