LRT service resumes after car crashes into gas line near Blair station
Both LRT platform have reopened at Blair
UPDATE | OC Transpo said Jan. 30 that switch heaters at Blair station had been repaired.
Ottawa's fire department says a driver left Highway 174 near the westbound Blair Road on-ramp and crashed into a gas line Wednesday morning.
In a social media post, Ottawa Fire Services said they arrived on the scene of the single-vehicle crash just before 7 a.m. and there are no reported injuries.
OC Transpo closed the Confederation Line in the area until early afternoon, when it said the gas leak had been stopped.
OC Transpo's general manager said in a memo issued early Wednesday afternoon that it had reopened one platform at Blair, and that riders would have to change trains at St-Laurent.
Around 3:15 p.m. the service said both platforms could reopen and R1 replacement buses would be ending.
OC Transpo said the damaged gas line powers switch heaters in the area, and said it's working on repairs with its maintenance contractors.
In the meantime, it said staff will watch the switches and clear them of snow if needed.
There was also a switch problem at South Keys station on the recently reopened Trillium Line, closing its southbound platform. That station takes riders both to Limebank station at the end of Line 2 and down Line 4 to Uplands and Airport stations.
OC Transpo first posted about this problem around 8 a.m. and announced regular service had returned before 8:30 a.m. It said in the afternoon the problem was fixed by clearing snow from the switch south of South Keys.
It is not clear how the Trillium Line problem could affect its staged reopening to seven days a week, up from the current Sunday closures.
There was a switch problem on the Confederation Line Monday and another one reported last week.
The train problems came on a snowy morning that's seen OC Transpo ask riders to leave extra time for their trips and also school bus cancellations in the capital.