Tuesday, February 09, 2021

HOW COLD IS IT? IT IS SO COLD THAT
Crack in LRT rail line due to extreme cold causing delays on Edmonton transit

Extreme cold temperatures have caused a (SECOND) crack in the city’s LRT rail line, causing delays on the transit system.
© Provided by Edmonton Journal Back in January 2020, transit employees manually operated the rail crossing arms on 111 Street just south of 51 Avenue as a result of a rail fracture. Another crack near the same intersection was identified Monday evening as a result of the extreme cold and is causing delays on the transit system.

A cracked rail as a result of the deep freeze was discovered in the area of 51 Avenue Monday night, resulting in service delays of about 10 minutes at Southgate and Century Park Stations throughout Tuesday.

Trains are currently running on a single track through the affected area, meaning trains have to stop and wait for those heading in the opposite direction to pass. Metro Line trains are turning back at the South Campus Station and not travelling through to Southgate or Century Park Stations.

Repair crews will be braving the bitter cold at 7 p.m. to work on fixing the track, Trevor Dennehy, the city’s general supervisor of transit facilities maintenance, said in a Tuesday statement.

Crews will be working all night with the goal of having regular service back up and running for the Wednesday morning commute. Edmonton is under an extreme cold warning and temperatures are expected to drop to -29 C overnight with a windchill of -40 C.

“Our crews will be working all night with the goal of having regular service restored for Edmontonians by tomorrow morning. We greatly appreciate all of our staff who go above and beyond to make repairs in such bitterly cold temperatures,” Dennehy said.

This is the second straight winter that a LRT rail line has fractured as a result of the extreme cold weather. A crack was found near the same intersection last January but on a different part of the rail. Another one caused delays near 34 Avenue. At the time, Dennehy said the two cracks were the first issues with the city’s LRT rails in 10 years.

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