For the second time in two months, the Monongahela Incline will be out of service for about a week, this time due to damage to a door on a car on the west, down-river side of the tracks.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit closed the incline Wednesday morning and began running a shuttle bus between Mount Washington and Station Square on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The agency plans to run the shuttle when it has bus operators available, but it can’t guarantee the service because of a shortage of drivers.
This is the second time the system has been shut down for repairs since the agency completed an $8.1 million upgrade to its mechanical system and stations in March. In August, it was closed for nearly a week because condensation from an air-conditioning unit caused the emergency brake to stop the parallel cars about 50 feet from the stations.
The incline, which opened in 1870 and is the oldest continually operating system in North America, carries about 600,000 passengers a year.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.