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Monorail to sit out tourist season

By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times staff reporter

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Business is slow for a monorail worker whose job is to inform people who stop by the Seattle Center station that the trains, including the charred one behind him, are not in service.

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Related stories Archive: Fire shuts down monorail; riders flee smoke-filled train

Before the line reopens, all parties agree that a fire investigation be completed; one or both trains be retrofitted for better safety; a new evacuation plan be drawn up; and firefighters conduct a live rescue drill over the street, Nelsen said.

A three-month shutdown would eliminate service for the peak visitor season, including the Bite of Seattle in mid-July and the Bumbershoot music festival Labor Day weekend. During Bumbershoot, the monorail carries roughly 23,000 riders daily.

Some merchants at Westlake Center, at the south end of the historic one-mile route, say they have already noticed a drop in business.

The Memorial Day fire on May 31 stranded about 100 people aboard the monorail's "Blue Train" for several minutes until they could be retrieved using fire department ladders and the monorail's twin "Red Train" above Fifth Avenue.

The investigation by outside experts will indicate that both trains need additional fireproofing before they should resume passenger service, Nelsen said.

	ALAN BERNER / THE TIMES Repairs and upgrades likely will force Seattle's monorail to miss the peak visitor season.

"As a result of the engineering analysis, they've found things they haven't expected," Nelsen said. Officials declined to give further details.

The investigation is led by SNC-Lavalin — which has done engineering work on the Vancouver SkyTrain and Monorail Malaysia — and assisted by Hughes Associates of Baltimore, which specializes in fire investigation and prevention. The firms completed their physical review of the trains last week.

Their final report is expected late next week or the following week, said Tom Albro, director of Seattle Monorail Services, which operates the trains.

"We're all in agreement that safety is paramount," he said. Albro said that, until the report arrives, he could not confirm whether Nelsen's three- to four-month timetable is accurate.

Nelsen praised Seattle Center and SMS for not pressing for an immediate restart. "To their credit, they're going to fix whatever's wrong," he said.

Shortly after the fire, Nelsen said the blaze began with an electrical spark between a power rail on the track and a black carbon "anode block" that conducts electricity to the train motors. Flames eventually spread through seats and train walls.

Sparking has long been recognized as an inherent hazard, though only one fire has occurred on the 42-year-old Seattle line, and Japanese monorails reportedly have never required an emergency evacuation.

The future 14-mile Green Line monorail, from Ballard to West Seattle, will meet more stringent safety standards, including a firewall protecting the passenger compartment. Heat sensors, smoke detectors, intercoms, fire extinguishers and an emergency escape catwalk also will be required in the construction documents.

For the old monorail, without catwalks, Nelsen prefers that two trains are available to help with rescues. However, the fire damage to the Blue Train may be so severe that owners would not necessarily pay to fix it, because the one-mile line would be demolished in late 2005 to make way for the new line, Nelsen said.

And if there isn't a backup train to help in rescues, firefighters will need six ladder trucks to get everyone out quickly, he said.

In addition, the tight stretch over Fifth Avenue, with buildings on both sides of the tracks, forces rescue ladders into an upright position that is harder for passengers to use, instead of the gentler slope that rescuers used May 31, just outside the Experience Music Project, Nelsen said.

Albro said he has made no decision yet on whether to repair the burned Blue Train or try to operate a single-train system.

The old monorail's drivers and cashiers are still at work, helping passengers use a free shuttle bus at the two monorail stations, but it draws fewer people than the trains.

Bibin Sharma, manager of Bombay Wala restaurant in the Westlake Center food court, said yesterday that business is down 30 percent since the fire. Noon crowds remain good because downtown employees walk in, but the afternoon tourist trade has slipped.

At 2 p.m. yesterday, there were no customers in the Made in Washington store.

"We're talking the end of June — look at this, it's amazing!" said manager Judy Burnside, who figures her losses are above 20 percent. Usually, cruise-ship tourists take a monorail ride and a Westlake Center shopping trip in a loop tour of the city. Now, concierges are asking her when the trains will restart.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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