OTTAWA's DISASTROUS LRT TRAIN

  Ottawa's $2.1-billion light rail system, supposed to be finished by the end of this month, will not only miss its third completion deadline but is experiencing issues far more serious than city officials have led the public to believe, according to internal reports obtained by CBC.
   The reports say that "panels are coming loose and breaking on LRVs [light-rail vehicles] due to snow building up on the vehicles," and that snow and ice are "frequently causing the doors to freeze shut."  Both brakes and bogies — the frames underneath the rail cars — also freeze up if the vehicles "sit for any amount of time" outdoors during a snowfall.
   The on-board heating system doesn't always work, and neither does the communications system. Late last week, one train had to be towed back to the garage by another train — not the first time that's happened — and an operator reported smelling smoke at a station.

  The internal report is a long one.