FIGHTING THE FREEZE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR LIGHT RAIL TRAINS

WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SETTLE FOR SECOND CLASS WITH OUR WORLD-CLASS TRANSIT SYSTEM, WRITES MIKE FARWELL

It seems this winter lulled all of us into a false sense of spring, including those in charge of keeping our light rail trains running.

"We thought we'd got away with it this year, to be honest," said Richard Dean, general manager of Keolis, during a presentation to regional councillors recently.

"We were saying at the end of January, 'Hasn't winter been pretty benign?'"

Keolis is the company that operates and maintains our light rail transit system, and while those of us who are not exactly enthusiastic about winter can be forgiven for hoping it had skipped us this year, it is Keolis's job to be prepared for the season's worst.

This winter, though, Keolis was ill-prepared, and our (almost) billion-dollar transit system was idled by consecutive freezing rain events.

Dean's presentation to regional council highlighted the unique nature of weather impacts from one community to the next, explaining that a freezing

rain event in Waterloo Region is different from one in Toronto, where tall buildings help to create "heat islands" that can reduce or eliminate ice accretion.

With seven freezing rain events recorded this February alone — and such events expected with greater frequency in the future — there should be an urgency attached to our efforts to keep the trains running, no matter how inclement the weather.

It could be argued that such urgency did not exist this winter.

A scraping tool that can be used to keep our system's overhead wires free from ice buildup was delivered last November, after almost two years in production.

(I guess we got lucky last winter, too.)

But even when the scraper did arrive in November, we only had enough for about half our trains, leaving us hoping for the best as this winter approached.

It might also leave us wondering why at least half the trains, scrapers attached, couldn't keep running during last month's storms.

Along with the scraping tool, our LRT operators also have a de-icing agent that can be applied to the overhead wires to deter the ice from building up. And, finally, we also have the option of keeping a train running around the clock to prevent snow from build

ing up on the tracks, and ice from building up on the overhead wires.

Dean explained, though, that train and track maintenance schedules can sometimes interfere with 24hour operation.

While a maintenance schedule is no doubt important, surely the timing of that maintenance can be shifted when the situation calls for round-the-clock operation. And when we are provided several days' notice of an approaching storm, well, surely this is ample time to adjust a maintenance schedule — if keeping the train running is our highest priority, that is.

We had some freakish February weather and were faced with seemingly unprecedented challenges as a result. When trains stopped in their tracks, our ability to deliver effective shuttle bus service was praiseworthy.

But we shouldn't have to settle for second class with our world-class transit system.

Knowing that more severe and frequent freezing rain events are in our future means we need heightened urgency in solving these problems.

We already have the expertise to get the job done.