OTTAWA: Service has officially been restored on Lines 1 and 4 of Ottawa’s rail network after critical workforce shortages forced both lines offline on Saturday. Transit officials confirmed that the temporary suspensions, which left weekend commuters relying on replacement buses, have been resolved.
In a statement released late Saturday night, OC Transpo General Manager Rick Leary explained that Line 1 service had to be suspended at approximately 9:00 p.m. due to a sudden shortage of controller staff. Leary emphasized that these specialized personnel are legally and operationally required to ensure safe train movements across the network. For the remainder of the evening, R1 bus replacement service was deployed to transport riders between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations.
The operational disruption began earlier in the afternoon on the city’s airport connection. In a social media post published just after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, OC Transpo announced that transit operations had been “temporarily suspended” on the spur line running between the Ottawa International Airport and South Keys station.
According to Leary’s update, Line 4 was taken offline due to a combination of “low customer volume and reduced staffing availability.” To accommodate travelers, the Route 105 bus was deployed to run in place of the train for the rest of the night.
The abrupt suspension drew immediate notice from the Ottawa International Airport, which posted its own advisory to passengers. The airport confirmed to travelers that trains would be unavailable for the remainder of the night specifically due to OC Transpo staffing issues, though they noted that airport bus services remained unaffected. Full rail service on both lines has since returned to normal operations.
