Vegas monorail to open after nearly six months of delays

By Seattle Times staff and Associated Press

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"This has been a very difficult time for us," said James Gibson, chief executive of Transit Systems Management, the private company that will operate the monorail for the nonprofit Las Vegas Monorail Co.

"We needed to ensure the system was reliable and safe," he said Tuesday.

Gibson said the $650 million monorail was supposed to begin running Jan. 20 but a drive shaft problem and later software glitches pushed back the starting date.

The Vegas line uses trains by Bombardier, one of two competing suppliers for the proposed 14-mile Green Line monorail in Seattle. The trains are relatively thin and lightweight so they fit better in a built-up urban core. The rival supplier, Hitachi, builds roomier trains that have a long record of reliable operations in Japan.

Seattle monorail backers, especially City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, have pointed to the Vegas project as proof elevated transit can work in Seattle. Opponents have pointed to the delays as a bad omen for the Green Line, and even Steinbrueck agrees that the generic-looking concrete columns in Vegas are not attractive enough for Seattle tastes.

During spring tests, the four-car Las Vegas trains were stopping unexpectedly between stations, train doors were not opening properly when pulling into the stations, and the trains weren't maintaining the proper distance between one another, Gibson said.

"None of those things suggest we have a lemon," Gibson said. "It was just a matter of staying after it and figuring out the cause."

The delays cost Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Inc. and project partner Granite Construction Co. of Watsonville, Calif., about $85,000 a day in construction penalties. Bombardier built the monorail cars. Granite was originally part of Bombardier's Seattle team but withdrew in April, along with Kiewit Construction, forcing Bombardier to recruit replacement firms this summer.

The Las Vegas monorail stills needs a certificate of operation before it can begin shuttling people, said Ron Lynn, head of the Clark County Building Division. The certificate could be issued in the next several days, he said.

The monorail will run 3.9 miles on a Z-shaped route that links seven stations, including one at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Walker said it could take a passenger under 14 minutes to travel behind some of city's largest hotel-casinos from one end of the Las Vegas Strip to the other. Fares are $3 for one-way trips.

The monorail is being built in three phases and is expected to be extended to downtown Las Vegas and later to the airport.

Las Vegas hosts about 35 million visitors a year, including 5 million convention delegates. Project officials predict 19 million people will ride the monorail a full year after it opens.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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