Today's letters: Why are the wheels going flat on Ottawa's LRT?
Monday, Jan. 27: Theories abound about the wheels on LRT cars. Here's how you can write to us: letters@ottawacitizen.com
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What sort of steel did they use on LRT wheels?
Re: City details LRT’s winter woes, Jan. 24.
Michael Morgan, the city’s rail construction director, has said there needs to be a root-cause investigation to see why so many wheel flats have been happening lately to LRT train units.
Could it be that Alstom used a softer steel for its LRT wheels than that for the SNC rails, thereby inducing flattening on braking? The flattening effect would be much greater under the fully loaded conditions of this winter’s operation compared to the unloaded testing throughout last winter. What are the hardness specifications of the present wheels and rails respectively, and what original steel hardness specifications were cited for each in the contract requirements?
The time-consuming operation of removing flat sectors on steel wheels by shaving (reducing) a portion of wheel diameters using a double-wheel lathe for the purpose (not initially operational) results in progressively smaller diameter wheels with shorter lifetimes due to them having to rotate faster and more times to match the traction of the original diameter wheels.
George Neville, Ottawa
The wheel problem seems unique to Ottawa
The problem with LRT wheels should be an embarrassment to all LRT
design-technical-supervisory people. Train wheels’ flat-spotting implies very poor build and/or absent, inadequate or ignored specs.
This LRT-wheels chronic problem is new. it was not a part of the learning-curve evolution of rail technology. There have been hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of rail rolling-stock units in this country, for more than 100 years.
With no chronic wheel problems. So why are these new LRT units’ wheels
deficient?
Wheel flat-spots are from brakes locking up the wheels, or from poor steel in the wheels, or from under-design. Older engineers typically included fudge-factors in their designs to compensate for what they did not know.
Brian Boyd, P. Eng. (retired), Orléans
Hire Byford to fix LRT mess
If the City of Ottawa is serious about fixing the problems with the Confederation Line LRT, it should hire Andy Byford to get the job done. Mr. Byford, who has just resigned as the head of the New York City Transit Authority, is one of the world’s leading public transit turnaround specialists.
He raised the on-time performance of New York’s massive subway system from 58 to 80 per cent in just two years, and under his leadership the Toronto Transportation Commission was named the best public transit agency in North America. Now that Byford is looking for his next opportunity, our city leaders would be smart to snap him up.
Vivek Krishnamurthy, Ottawa
Police services board faces real challenges
The next meeting of the Board of the Ottawa Police Services (OPS) is today, Jan. 27.
As a former member of this board for six years (three as vice-chair), I can attest to the heavy workload that membership of the OPS board entails, even during unexceptional times. Currently the service is undergoing a significant transformation in its senior leadership. The chief and the CAO are new. One of the two deputy chiefs is under investigation. The service is searching for a new CFO.
The board itself has also recently undergone a major transformation, leaving only two “legacy” members from the previous membership going forward.
The issues that arise will be challenging for a board composed of mostly new members learning their roles, a mayor who has already more than enough on his plate and a member on ongoing medical leave of absence.
Provincial law requires the board to elect a chair and a vice-chair from within its membership at its first meeting each year. I hope that the board will take these matters into serious consideration when choosing its own leadership for the next 12 months.
Jacques Legendre, Ottawa, former OPS Board member (1997-2003, former vice-chair 2000 to 2003)
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