KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasDelays Continue for the New Monorail System
(May 24) -- Test runs continue for the Las Vegas Monorail, but it will still be weeks if not months before the system starts carrying passengers. The delays are proving costly for the contractor in charge of building the monorail system to the tune of $85,000 a day. Eyewitness News has learned more about why the monorail is having so many problems and why it is so late in opening.
From the outside the monorail test runs look good. But the problem is inside a computer program. The glitch impacts arrival and departure times. 90-percent of the time the trains run on schedule. The other 10-percent the trains arrive too early or too late, and no one knows why, including Las Vegas Monorail President Cam Walker. "All of the moving parts are a lot of different computers and software that are being worked on and being dealt with to make sure it's reliable."
This is all the responsibility of the contractor, Canadian-based Bombardier Transportation. Eyewitness News phone calls to Bombardier Transportation weren't returned. But it was learned Bombardier is also behind schedule on a similar project in Minnesota, in addition to the Las Vegas problems.
"There is some trial and error in the beginning process." Niel Rohleder knows what the monorail folks are going through. He oversees the computer system that runs all traffic lights, traffic signs and message boards in Las Vegas. "With software a lot of times, until you put those pieces together you can't necessarily see how they're going to interact with one another."
"The monorail is a very proven and a very simple technology." While the Regional Transportation Commission isn't involved in phase one of the monorail, RTC manager Jacob Snow says it will oversee phase two from Sahara to Downtown. But it can't start until the computer glitch is solved. "The sooner we execute that contract 34 months later we plan on a grand opening."
Phase one was scheduled to open in January, delayed until March and now the monorail company says passengers will start riding this summer but won't cite a specific date.
"We have to make sure we've flushed out all the different options all the different ways to run and manage this system." Cam Walker with the monorail says they could theoretically open up the system to passengers now, but says it could not guarantee reliability. Something they say is essential to customer satisfaction and passenger safety.
