Photos by Dennis Dean
A Blue Line train decoupled at the 1st Street Transit Mall late this morning, backing up Metro rail traffic and causing Long Beach Transit delays.
One of the cars on a southbound train decoupled on 1st St. between Pine Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard at approximately 10:30AM, before it had pulled into the Transit Mall Blue Line station which is the end of the Metro rail line. Decoupling occurs when two rail cars become separated because of a manipulation of their couplers, the mechanism that connects rolling stock on trains.
This morning’s decoupling occured at the point where the single Metro track splits into two and it appeared that the two cars were halted just as they began to roll onto different tracks. There is no official word on the cause of the decoupling.
Long Beach Transit traffic was stopped in both directions, with westbound LBT buses on 1st eventually given the clear. All eastbound traffic will most likely be diverted onto Ocean.
All LBT and Metro Blue Line passengers should expect a delay, according to authorities on the scene. A bus bridge — a temporary system of buses — is being put in place for Blue Line passengers still needing to travel through the area, between all stops from the Anaheim Station to the Transit Mall.
According to a Long Beach Police Department officer at the scene, no one was injured and Metro is in the midst of officially rerouting LBT lines.
More information as becomes available.
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