Seattle Monorail Gets Stuck

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By By KOMO Staff

Summary

The blue train of the Seattle monorail broke down just south of Fisher Plaza Friday afternoon, and passengers had to be evacuated to the other train.

Story Published: Jul 22, 2005 at 2:42 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 2:01 AM PDT

Seattle Monorail Gets Stuck
SEATTLE - The blue train of the Seattle Center Monorail broke down just south of Fisher Plaza Friday afternoon, and passengers had to be evacuated to the other train.

"We kinda came around the corner, and (the monorail) lost pressure, and then it stopped," said Pam, a passenger who called KOMO 4 News via her cell phone.

The general manager of the monorail then rode out with crews in the red train and pulled up alongside the stalled blue train and safely evacuated all passengers into the red train.

"They put a plank down (across the track) and we crossed over it," Pam added.

That train then proceeded on to Westlake Center.

"From what I understand everybody was really calm, there was no anxiety with the passengers. They very easily got them loaded onto the red train," explained Perry Cooper, the spokesperson for the Seattle Center Monorail. "Then, we just closed the door on that rescue train as it's called at that point, and then (brought) them down to that station that they were heading to and evacuated them there."

The blue train was then moved back to the Seattle Center station. Late Friday night, engineers figured out the control panel on the train malfunctioned and that's why it stopped.

This was the same train that caught fire in May 2004 because of an electrical short. But Cooper pointed out there was nothing similar between Friday's breakdown and the fire.

The blue train was expected to be fixed and back in service Saturday morning. The red train remained in service -- shuttling people to the Bite of Seattle -- for the rest of Friday night.