The Monongahela Incline will remain closed for repairs for at least two more weeks.
The incline, operated by Pittsburgh Regional Transit to carry riders up and down the hillside between Station Square and Mount Washington, was closed Jan. 2. At that time, the agency cited multiple electric and mechanical issues that prevented cars that operate on parallel tracks from stopping at the upper and lower stations.
On Friday, the agency announced that while subcontractor Elcon Technologies Inc. of Bridgeville was repairing those issues, workers found additional problems unrelated to the original issues. The system had an $8.1 million makeover in 2022 that included refurbishing its operating system, and Elcon is doing the repairs under the original contract.
The additional computer programming issues could have caused problems for the incline in the future, PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said in an interview.
“There were multiple issues,” Brandolph said. “Some of those weren’t related to each other, and they were only discovered while were making the repairs.”
The agency said these kinds of issues can occur because the incline originally opened in 1870 and has been refurbished numerous times, which means newer equipment often is adapted to work with older items. The incline is the oldest continuously operating funicular system in the country.
“The Mon Incline has been rebuilt, rehabbed, refurbished and upgraded multiple times throughout its history, which in many ways adds to the unique challenges of maintaining such a valuable piece of Pittsburgh history,” PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a news release.
“While we cherish the opportunity to be entrusted with its upkeep, we are often tested by the difficulty of keeping such a prominent icon in operation.”
The system carries about 600,000 passengers a year, about half of them tourists. During the closure, the agency has been operating shuttle buses between Grandview Avenue on Mount Washington and East Carson Street on the South Side.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.