Ceiling corrosion disrupts LRT service at St-Laurent station

UPDATE: The City of Ottawa said Sunday that trains are still skipping St-Laurent station and that another update should come on Monday.  

Light rail trains are temporarily skipping St-Laurent station while inspectors handle a problem with the ceiling tiles above the platform.

According to the city, the service disruption began at approximately 10:25 a.m. Friday. 

Richard Holder, director of engineering services at OC Transpo, said in a notice later that morning to city council that a regular visual inspection found "a few of the suspended ceiling tiles above the platform were disrupted."

In an update sent just after 6 p.m. Friday, Renée Amilcar, the city's general manager of transit services, added that further inspection found "evidence of corrosion of some ceiling panels and potential delamination of the concrete."

Engineers continue to inspect the suspended ceiling and the concrete above both the north and south platforms, Amilcar said in her update Friday.

No ceiling tiles have fallen, the city told CBC in a statement Friday night.

This past January, however, chunks of concrete did fall onto the tracks at St-Laurent station, disrupting service for a major part of the day.

Delamination had occurred in that incident as well, the city said at the time, describing it as the "separation of the paste layer at the surface, creating an unbonded layer with the main slab."

Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo, a former OC Transpo employee, told CBC on Saturday the damage appears less disruptive than the last time the tiles were corroded, when trains could not even pass through the station.

"It's not the structural hazard that people might think it is," he said. "However, it is still a hazard."

Lo added he will be looking for an answer at the city's next transit commission meeting as to whether the bus loop positioned above the station is to blame for any of the water damage.

Bus shuttles running

As of Saturday afternoon, trains were still bypassing St-Laurent station. Bus shuttle service is being provided between St-Laurent and Cyrville stations.

OC Transpo said it will provide updates through its social media and website.

A freedom of information request obtained by CBC News earlier this year revealed that inspectors found water damage to ceiling tiles at the station during an inspection in October 2020.

When the CBC reached out Friday to inquire if that damage was related to the delay, the city said they had no information right now because the inspection was ongoing.

Last month, CBC reported the city did not patch up some "severe" problem areas at St-Laurent station for years after they were observed in 2020, the last time the structure was fully inspected.

The city deferred inspecting three out of four parts of St-Laurent station in 2022, even though Ontario's Ministry of Transportation requires tunnel inspections every two years.