A Philadelphia consultant has concluded that a series of closures at the iconic Monongahela Incline weren’t caused by inadequate maintenance or poor operating practices.
But Talson Solutions has recommended a series of steps that Pittsburgh Regional Transit can take moving forward to help improve the reliability of the oldest continually operating funicular in North America, which opened in 1870.
The transit agency hired Talson in April after the latest disruption in service following an $8.1 million upgrade to its mechanical and electrical systems that was completed in March 2023. The facility was closed several times for weeks following problems such as condensation in a computer room triggering the emergency braking system, brake resistors not stopping cars because the wrong size was used, and doors on the cars slipping out of place.
No one was injured in any of the incidents, but the closures left riders using shuttle buses or finding other ways to travel between Grandview Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood and Station Square on East Carson Street on the South Side. About 600,000 riders – including many tourists – use the incline every year.
Talson’s task was to review the incline and make recommendations “for future contracts and help to identify short- and long-term improvements to the operations and maintenance” of the system. The company issued two reports, one in May and another in early October that the agency released earlier this month.
The consultant received $116,314 for the highly technical reports, one 11 pages and the other 12.
In a statement released by spokesman Adam Brandolph, PRT said the consultant found no major defects with the way the incline has been operated.
“The report provides suggested enhancements to improve monitoring, preventative maintenance and training, though, the disruptions experienced to this point were not related to the lack of these items, but rather, they stemmed from discrete flaws in the system that were identified and corrected,” the statement said.
“The recommendations by Talson in the Phase 2 report will aid in predictive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance and will, in turn, improve the reliability of the Incline moving forward.”
The second report had nine recommendations, including for PRT personnel to receive better training from the contractors who performed the electrical upgrades to the system, Westmoreland Electrical Services and Elcon Technologies Inc. That training hadn’t been completed by the middle of September, but PRT said it will be scheduled. Additional work required by the contractors to fix problems that led to the shutdowns has been covered under their previous contracts at no extra cost to PRT. The companies still have some remaining work to complete and have not been released from their contracts, Brandolph said.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.