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Originally Posted by lrt's friend
The O-Train returned to schedule by yesterday afternoon but is again off-schedule this morning.
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It's off again right now actually. (EDIT: Back up again now, 1:18PM) The south switch of the Carleton passing track is apparently on the fritz, so trains are only running between Carleton and Bayview. The other one was just sitting at Confederation when I saw it.
Communication remains a challenge for the O-Train. I think part of it is the separate radio system, I've heard from supervisors who were standing at the platform when the system was broken in the past that the train is on a completely separate system (so the train can contact RTC). Today as I was heading to the southbound platform at Carleton, I heard an announcement. I was a few steps away so it wasn't clear, but other people on the platform heard that there was no Northbound service. When the train didn't come as scheduled, I checked twitter, and OCTranspo Live confirmed that due to a "Signal Issue" there was no Carleton - Bayview service and 107 would be running.
When the train arrived heading South, the driver got on the platform and told people waiting that he was turning around and heading back to Bayview, and the bus was running to Greenboro. A direct contradiction of the tweet and announcement I showed him, and he pulled out his radio and called for operations. A correct tweet was posted a minute later. Luckily the 107 came quickly, but once on it the driver refused to stop at Heron or Walkley when requested (both appeared on the screen inside the bus, and on the route map last summer). At Greenboro I asked about continuing to South Keys, since that's what's on the destination, but he said he was told to only stop at the train stations. Of course he then drove away to South Keys anyways, because that's the next turnaround.
All of this just makes it seem like there is no one in charge of the train beyond the basics of running a railway. Poor communication is bad customer service. At least on the new summer schedules posted in the stations they have highlighted the information on what to do when the train is closed, including nearby routes and where to transfer to get to Carleton and Downtown.
Edit: Clarified that the schedules are the ones posted in the stations.