2½-block skid has Seattle scrutinizing streetcar safety
Originally published March 11, 2017 at 7:00 am Updated March 11, 2017 at 2:01 am
A train skidded last week on the First Hill line — a risk the city must address there, and on the future First Avenue streetcar near crowds of pedestrians, to open in 2020.
The momentary loss of power from a low-voltage battery was enough to send a Seattle streetcar skidding down Broadway on its rails for 2½ blocks, a safety hazard that technicians are still trying to cure several days later.
Though nobody was injured, the incident March 1 disabled four kinds of braking methods on the streetcar — and explains why city transportation chief Scott Kubly, citing an abundance of caution, is keeping the entire First Hill line closed.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/2-block-skid-has-seattle-scrutinizing-streetcar-safety/