City won't hire STV for LRT safety review after all

CBC
·1 min read
An OC Transpo O-Train west of Tremblay station in Ottawa Sept. 20, 2021 after it derailed the previous day. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press - image credit)
An OC Transpo O-Train west of Tremblay station in Ottawa Sept. 20, 2021 after it derailed the previous day. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The City of Ottawa has reversed its choice of firm to run an independent safety review of the light rail system after criticism over that firm's involvement in its planning.

STV was brought in for the review after a train derailed Sept. 19 as it entered Tremblay station.

The city said STV provided preliminary engineering support that was used to inform cost estimates, staging and development of specifications for the Confederation Line. It was not responsible for its design, said the city manager.

"They're coming back to make a determination on work that they were supposed to oversee in the first place," said Coun. Catherine McKenney in response.

City manager Steve Kanellakos said in a Tuesday memo there would have been measures to make sure STV's work was not biased, but he has to consider the optics.

"While the objectivity and expertise of STV is not in question in any way, I also recognize that public trust related to all aspects of the Confederation Line 1 is low right now, and I do not want any perception challenges to get in the way of residents' confidence in the findings," he wrote.

He said he reached out to STV Monday to update them and they accepted his decision. A search for a new firm for the review is underway.

WATCH | A city councillor on the perception of bias:

The Confederation Line is closed and there's no firm date for it to reopen.

Tuesday's news comes a day after both a TSB letter suggested the city improve detection equipment following an August LRT derailment and news the city had hired Renée Amilcar as its new transit general manager.

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