OC Transpo Afternoon Rush Hour R1 Express (East to Blair) Bus Staging in 2023 (Aug 2, 2023)

Video of OC Transpo buses being staged for the R1 Express buses going eastbound from Downtown (Slater/Kent) to Blair during the afternoon rush hour.

Buses were being staged on Albert Street, between Bank Street and Lyon Street, on the far-left lane. Upon the Supervisor's direction, the buses will deadhead via Albert Street, Lyon Street, and on Slater Street to start their service as R1 Express to Blair at Kent Street.

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On July 17, 2023, O-Train LRT Line 1 "Confederation Line" closed down due axle bearing issue discovered during the normal maintenance inspections. This was an unplanned disruption.

On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, partial Line 1 service resumed between uOttawa and Tunney's Pasture, while full service between Blair and Tunney's Pasture resumed on August 14, 2023.

During the unplanned disruption, replacement bus service -- Route R1 -- operated between Blair and Tunney's Pasture for the full regular routing from end-to-end.

Due to complaints by transit users in the east over long travel times between Rideau Centre and Blair (due to the indirect routing of Route R1), OC Transpo implemented "Route R1 Express" between Blair and Downtown during the rush hour (westbound only during the AM Rush Hour to Albert/Kent; eastbound only during hte PM Rush Hour from Slater/Kent). Route R1 Express began operations on July 31, 2023.

The R1 Express that was implemented on July 31, 2023 has actually continued operations even though LRT Line 1 fully resumed service on August 14, 2023. Route R1 Express was referred to as the "Shuttle Express" and was labelled as "Route S1" on the destination sign. The route number was immediately changed to what is presently known as "Route E1".

Filmed on Aug 2, 2023 by "JCL"
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