Ask Vegas Vic: Trams at McCarran Airport

Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 | 2 a.m.

After 10 months, the second tram to the C gates at McCarran is back in operation. But guess what. Now the first one is down, boarded up and apparently off-line for a long time. Once again and still, transportation to the C gates is by a single tram. For how long?A Boeing 747 has 6 million parts. Boeing can build seven of them in a month, or 70 in the gestation period of a McCarran tram. — A frustrated commuter

Fresh horses are on the way to McCarran’s C gates, but they’re in no hurry.

Bombardier, which operates and maintains the airport trams, is replacing them one at a time.

The project is long overdue, according to McCarran spokesman Chris Jones. The two trams have logged over a million miles each since 1985 — around the time Vegas Vic was sporting parachute pants.

The East tram was officially taken out of service March 1, but Vic has heard grumbling that the iron horse actually pulled up lame late last year. (Jones said the Bombardier contract allows the trams to be out of service for eight hours a day for maintenance, which might have led some travelers to believe the train was permanently out of commission before March.)

Either way, it has been replaced and the new East tram started running this month.

With that, the West tram was taken out of service. The new West tram should be up and running by the end of the year, according to Jones.

He said the project is taking so long because Bombardier has to custom-build the replacements to meet the rail line’s “physical constraints and operating requirements.”

“I realize it’s an inconvenience,” Jones said. “But it’s better to be proactive ... rather than wait for the inevitable and have it break down on the track.”

Jones added: “There is still a walkway people can use.”

Vic has a hitch in his get-along, so he’ll wait for the train.

Questions for Vegas Vic should be sent to page8@lasvegassun.com.