January 26, 2004
LAS VEGAS -- A drive shaft fell from a Bombardier Transit Corp. monorail car in Las Vegas this month, forcing the company overseeing construction and operation of the new system to halt testing for three days, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Bombardier is also part of Team Monorail, one of the two teams competing for the $1 billion-plus contract to design, operate and maintain the 14-mile Green Line from Ballard to West Seattle.
Cam Walker, president of Transit Systems Management, told the Review-Journal that Bombardier Transit Corp. grounded the fleet and removed and tested every drive shaft after the accident. Walker said a flaw caused the shaft to break loose from the axle beneath the monorail car.
"It happened in a controlled area as part of the testing of a system," Walker told the newspaper. "We believe this is an isolated event in the fabrication of a drive shaft."
Bombardier's Sarah Clark, who is part of Team Monorail, said extensive tests are part of launching a monorail system. "It was a vendor problem," she said of the accident. "The vendor has analyzed and investigated the problem."
The Las Vegas monorail is scheduled to open later this year.
