Metro LRT trains running slower after signal failure
By Admin User on November 19, 2017
Trains on the Metro LRT Line are running at reduced speed following a signal failure that happened last month. The train’s emergency safety system went off after the safety gate at an intersection near NAIT malfunctioned, as the train was approaching the crossing. The city says that it was the LRT’s software system that caused this incident.
“A train approached the crossing and before the train had occupied the crossing, the arms started to come up. The contractor is working towards the full functionality of the system and they put in another version of the software. This version of the software caused that bug to occur,” says Guy Boston, manager of LRT Delivery.
Thales Canada, the company in charge of the trains’ signalling system is running diagnostics to determine what caused the arm to lift. While this incident is still under investigation, the trains on the Metro Line will be running at a slower speed until further notice.
The city is currently withholding $17 million worth of payments to Thales Canada until the trains are all fully operational and running safely.
According to Alison Burns, the LRT Delivery’s communication advisor, this is the second signal failure since July.
“There was another incident in July where the gates near the Kingsway station were slow to come down. The driver slowed the train which gave the gates enough time to come down and then the train proceeded through the intersection,” says Burns.
Burns also says that the reduced speed of the trains has not affected the Metro Line’s schedules.