Monorail back on track; faulty installation blamed

Stephen Curran and Jace Radke

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

After remaining closed through the busy Labor Day weekend, the Las Vegas Monorail re-opened just before 8 this morning and officials said they now know what caused the problem that forced the closure of the system Wednesday.

The $650 million monorail, which opened in July after months of delays, closed Wednesday after a 60-pound tire assembly fell from a train while it was moving. No one was injured when the assembly slammed into a parking lot near Koval Lane between Sands Avenue and Flamingo Road.

Transit System Management, the company that runs the monorail, brought in McLean, Va.-based firm Booz Allen Hamilton to investigate.

Todd Walker, spokesman for the monorail system, said this morning that the tire assembly had been improperly installed by the manufacturer.

"We inspected the entire fleet and found that there were a couple of other (tire assemblies) put on improperly," Walker said. "We made the needed changes to correct the problem."

Walker said that the tire assemblies needed to go through a process known as "peening." This process basically strips some of the grooves from the screw-like fasteners that hold the tires in place causing the tires to lock in so that they can't back off the fasteners and fall.

In addition another operator has been added to the monorail control room to help watch for malfunctions and problems that can be prevented, Walker said. "This was preventable had it been caught Tuesday when the warnings went off," he said. In the past we had a minimum of three operators in the control room and now we have a minimum of four."

Bombardier Transportation, the Canadian company that operates the system, dispatched its own team of investigators to look into the problem.

The Clark County Building Division, which oversees the monorail's safety, is also looking into the incident and officials said they placed a series of requirements that the monorail had to meet before it could reopen. County officials could not be reached this morning regarding whether the monorail had complied with all of the county's requirements.

Ron Lynn, county building official, also said last week that county inspectors will be examining the trains as often as daily after it reopens until officials are satisfied they are safe. It was unclear this morning whether those inspections were ongoing.

Transit System Management will be billed $75 an hour for each inspector's time, Lynn said last week.

Cam Walker, president and chief executive of Transit System Management, previously said the company would pursue action against Bombardier.

The falling wheel was only the latest trouble for the privately funded system.

Computer and mechanical glitches plagued the system while it was under construction, repeatedly pushing back the opening which was originally slated for January.

Testing of the system was shut down for three days in January after a driveshaft fell off a train in a non-public area, Todd Walker said.

Problems have continued since the opening. A Bombardier employee was suspended Aug. 16 after he mistakenly opened a set of doors facing a 25-foot drop while passengers were on board. The passengers inside were transferred to another car while it was inspected.

This morning passenger traffic started to pick up around 8:30 a.m. as early-risers boarded the shuttles. About 15 people boarded the monorail at the MGM station about 8:45 a.m.

Susan Goldman, a tourist visiting Las Vegas from New York was riding the monorail for the first time this morning.

As she waited at the Flamingo station, Goldman said she had heard about the reason why the monorail had unexpectedly closed Wednesday.

"I know that a tire fell off because they weren't paying attention," Goldman said.