Las Vegas monorail back in service

The Las Vegas Monorail is running again after being shut down for four months of testing.

Service was suspended Sept. 8 after a slip disk – similar to a large washer – connected to the drive train came loose.

The 6-inch disk, weighing 1 to 2 pounds, hit a power rail which supplies electricity to the train. The contact caused electrical arcing but no serious damage to the track before it fell about 25 feet to the street.

A 60-pound wheel also fell off a train Sept. 1. No one was hurt in either incident.

“We are obviously pleased to get the Las Vegas Monorail back on line,” said James Gibson, chairman and CEO of Transit Systems Management, the project’s management firm.

“The results of this recommissioning period have given us every confidence that the necessary changes have been made and that the system is safe and reliable,” he said. “We look forward to the monorail meeting its mission and carrying millions of passengers for many years to come.”

The nine-train, $650 million dollar elevated rail system opened July 15 – six months late – after a drive shaft problem and later software glitches pushed back the starting date.

County officials wanted to ensure the system was safe after the latest incident before reopening. The county put the monorail through rigorous testing, picking apart the system and studying the undercarriage of all the trains, and officials say they will continue to monitor it to ensure safety.

The monorail follows a Z-shaped, 3.9-mile route behind the Las Vegas Strip, stretching from the MGM Grand to the Sahara hotel-casino. It’s being built in three phases with eventual extensions planned to downtown Las Vegas and later to the airport.