The Monongahela Incline, which has been closed since Nov. 1 after stopping mid-trip and trapping 27 people, likely will remain closed through next week.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit, which operates the funicular that carries passengers up and down the hill between Pittsburgh’s Station Square and Mount Washington, said Friday it is finishing a report about the incident that will be submitted to the state Department of Labor and Industry and the state Department of Transportation’s State Safety Oversight Agency, who will decide whether the system should be inspected before it reopens.
The incline operates on parallel tracks with one car going up as the other comes down. On Nov. 1, the top car stopped about 20 feet from the station with five passengers and the bottom car stopped about 50 feet from the station with 22 passengers, all of whom were rescued without incident after about 3½ hours.
The agency determined the cars stopped because a motor controller that regulates the speed, start and stop of the motor failed. It has been replaced, but PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said officials haven’t been able to determine exactly why it failed.
An outside consultant inspected the system this week and found no evidence of any mechanical concerns, Brandolph said.
During the closure, PRT is operating shuttle buses every 15 to 20 minutes between the stations. The Route 40 bus between Mount Washington and Downtown Pittsburgh operates about every 40 minutes.
The incline opened in 1870 and is the longest operating system in North America. About 600,000 riders use it every year, half of them tourists.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.