Monorail employee suspended

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004 | 11:30 a.m.

An employee for a Las Vegas Monorail contractor was suspended Monday afternoon after he opened a set of doors about 25 feet off the ground, a spokesman for the monorail said this morning.

The employee, a technician for Bombardier Transportation, the contracted operator of the system, was dispatched to the train -- parked at the Las Vegas Hilton platform -- after crews reported a maintenance light turning on about 2:30 p.m. Monday, Todd Walker, a spokesman for the monorail, said.

The technician then overrode the system's automated controls, which allowed him to manually open the automatic doors facing away from the platform, Walker said.

The doors, which in automatic mode can not be opened manually, were open for less than a minute as the technician was preparing to take the train in for service, he said.

"In automatic mode there are safety mechanisms to prevent this from happening," Walker said. "Doors don't just open."

The roughly 25 passengers inside were transferred to another car while the technician inspected the car. No one was injured, Walker said.

The warning light was a false alarm, he added.

The employee was suspended while Bombardier investigates the incident, Walker said. He would not speculate on a possible outcome of the action.

"It's inexcusable that it took place and we're going to ensure that it doesn't take place again," he said.