UTA Says TRAX Outage Response Better This Time

Mar 10, 2008 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) TRAX commuters faced delays today after a test train was stopped by an electrical cable break shortly after four this morning near West Temple and I-80.

All lines north of 3300 South were shut down for about two hours while the test train was removed, and the North-South line ran on only one track between 500 and 4400 South until 3 p.m., causing delays of up to 45 minutes. The University line was running normally.

A similar incident happened exactly two weeks ago, but spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware says UTA's response was much faster this time, as workers were dispatched to affected stations to let commuters know of the problem.

"We actually have had meetings and met with all of our emergency crews within UTA, and we found that the biggest problem that we had two weeks ago was communication, because things are going to break every so often, it just happens, but we need to talk with our riders and be as forthcoming and give them as much accurate information as we can. That's actually helped quite a bit this morning," she said.

Buses were servicing all stations between the Murray North and Courthouse stops. Bohnsack-Ware says part of the problem last time was that UTA expected to have the cable fixed sooner, so the agency didn't start running buses early enough in the day. She says the break two weeks ago was most likely caused by excessive moisture, causing the electrical wire's insulation to corrode, and the agency will investigate to determine the cause this time around.

As of 3 p.m. all service was restored.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW