Line 1 of the Ottawa’s much maligned and problem plagued O-Train should be back to full capacity by the end of May, or at least that’s the update provided to the City’s Transit Committee on April 9.

Line 1 of the O-Train, which runs between the Blair Road Station and Tunney’s Pasture, has been running with a limited number of trains since early January when problems with the wheel carriage assemblies were discovered, requiring them to be replaced.

The reduced number of trains meant that service along the line was drastically reduced creating longer wait times and overcrowding during peak periods.

Over the past several weeks, more detailed inspections of the carriage assemblies has determined that the damage on two of the O-Train’s 41 train cars which were taken out of service in January is much worse than originally thought,

Since then four cars have been returned to service, bringing the total number of train cars in service to 22. That leaves 37 train cars which still need to undergo repairs, including the two that need to have their carriage assemblies completely replaced.

The bad news for east end commuters doesn’t stop there. Because of the lack of serviceable train cars, testing on the east end extension between Blair Station and Trim Raid is in limbo.

During his presentation to committee mem-bers, the newly appointed head of OC Transpo Rick Leary, estimated that testing would have to be delayed another two to five months, potentially pushing the opening of the east end extension to the end of summer.

The possible opening of the east end extension has been an ongoing punchline among east end commuters ever since the first projected opening date came and went in the fall of 2024. Then is was projected to open in time for Ottawa’s Canada Day celebration last year. That forecast was then pushed to this spring and most recently June 1. Now that projection has also been blown out of the water.

In the meantime, OC Transpo ridership in the east end and the revenues they would generate are both down considerably.

In his monthly column this week, Orléans East-Cumberland city councillor Matt Luloff expressed the frustration that many transit users in the east end share.

“Over the past few months, we have seen some of the worst service delivery in the history of our transit system,” writes Luloff. “Buses not showing up. Trains delayed or out of service. Riders left waiting, late, or stranded. For many residents in Orléans East -Cumberland, this is not an inconvenience, it is a daily disruption to work, school, and family life.”

But Luloff also expresses some hope moving forward.

“With new leadership now in place under Rick Leary, we have a chance to turn the page.”

He goes on to demand that the new OC Tramspo head must return the service to a state of reliability so that some semblance of confidence in the system can be restored.

“If a schedule says a bus is coming, it needs to come,” Luloff writes before concluding, “Our community deserves a transit system that works. This is a new opportunity to deliver exactly that.”

In other transit news, city council has rejected a proposal to use private buses to improve transportation service in rural areas such as Cumberland.

Both Luloff and Cumberland South-Navan councillor Catherine Kitts have suggested that the city could enlist current providers transporting customers from Rockland to pick up riders up in Cumberland Village and drop them off at the future Trim Road O-Train station. Opponents of the proposal argued that OC Transpo will eventually provide that service.