OC Transpo has announced summer maintenance and integration work on the O-Train East Extension, which will temporarily introduce R1 bus service on Line 1.

According to a memo from Transportation Director General Renée Amicar, the following changes are expected in June:

• June 6 after 9 p.m.: R1 buses will operate between Tunney’s Pasture and Hurdman; the train will be removed from service between uOttawa and Blair.
• June 7 after 10 p.m., June 8 after 7 p.m., and June 12 after 10 p.m.: R1 buses will replace the train between Rideau and Blair; service will continue between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa.
• June 14–15, 24 hours a day, June 22, 8 a.m.–12 p.m., and June 29, 8 a.m.–12 p.m.: R1 service between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair; no trains will operate on this section.

The reasons for the outage include scheduled track maintenance, overhead catenary upgrades, electrical grounding inspection and adjustments near Tunney’s Pasture, control server upgrades, traction substation maintenance, and an Ontario Inspection Manual inspection of the St-Laurent station tunnel. There will also be cleaning and minor repairs to the stations, and testing and connection of the Stage 2 East Extension to Line 1 will continue.

Additional work to complete testing of the Blair Extension is scheduled for the weekend of July 5 and July 26. Details of the R1 schedule and potential Line 1 delays will be announced closer to those dates. Further schedule changes are possible as testing progresses and as rail grinding is performed in the fall.