The second large-scale SkyTrain meltdown in five days caused havoc for Burnaby commuters Monday.
Human error was to blame, according to a TransLink press release Tuesday afternoon
Officials said an experienced electrician was installing a new circuit breaker for the Evegreen Line when he accidentally tripped the main breaker feeding SkyTrain's operations centre and caused a system-wide shutdown of train controls at 12:30 p.m.
Full service did not resume until 5:30 p.m.
The system failure, which came on the heels of a computer-card problem that had shut down the system just four days earlier, trapped commuters on crippled trains for hours.
Many walked the tracks to the nearest station while others waited for the trains to be manually driven.
Bus lineups at some stations were described on social media as “insane.”
Some afternoon commuters who arrived at shuttered SkyTrain stations along the two lines were just plain confused.
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” commuter Ana Carranza told the NOW at the Production Way-University station. “I’m confused because I was going to take transit and I come here and it’s closed. I don’t know if it’s because they’re constructing or what. I don’t like it because I want to go home. I just got from work and I want to go home. This sucks.”
Commuter Alejandro Guillen – looking at a hand-drawn sign stating “Station closed! No train running!” – said TransLink should have done a better job at communication.
“They should have somebody telling people what is going on,” Guillen said. “I just see a sign and there’s no one else to tell you.”
Despite the shutdown forcing him to miss a meeting, commuter Shane Droucker championed SkyTrain.
“The infrastructure of transit is invaluable for any global city,” he said, “and I think we need to back them up as much as we can. It’s probably not an easy thing to keep going.”
But commuter Bill Huang said the shutdown was annoying, especially so soon after last week’s interruption.
“The price of the tickets is going up, but the quality of the service is going down,” he said. “That’s unfair."
Translink chief operating officer Doug Kelsey, however, defended SkyTrain's overall performance.
“Our trains are reliable 95 per cent of the time," he said in TransLink's Tuesday press release, "but we know that is little consolation for customers who are delayed for hours when we do have a significant breakdown. Two major disruptions in one week is unprecedented, and the two incidents are completely unrelated.”
To show appreciation for customers, the press release added TransLink will offer a free day of transit on B.C. Day, Aug. 4.
Details will be announced at a later date.
