The consortium that oversees Ottawa's LRT system and the French subcontractor that built its trains have long disagreed over a simple issue: Why did a train derail four years ago?

They agree that a wheel hub assembly, which joins the axle to the wheel, failed . Bearings wore down too quickly. A nut came undone. In August 2021, that caused the assembly to fall apart.

But they have differed over why this is happening.

Publicly, their disagreements have been muted, aired only in the form of hints dropped during transit commission meetings .

Alstom said forces from the rails were overloading the assemblies, and it recommended changes to the tracks. RTG resisted that, saying some changes needed further study.

Now, after a year and a half of fighting through the freedom of informat

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