For the second time in a little more than a month, Metro Blue Line service between the Willow Station and Downtown Long Beach was halted as workers repaired a downed power line along the route.
At around 5AM Wednesday morning, the overhead line that provides electricity to the rail cars was damaged near the intersection of 9th St. and Long Beach Blvd. Power is given to the cars through contact with something called a pantograph, which goes from the top of the train and slides along the power lines overhead.
“The pantograph appears to have damaged the power lines so they had to replace the power lines,” said David Sotero of Metro.
UPDATE: Blue Line in Long Bch area suspended thru rush hour. Major delays thru day expected. Bus shuttles from Willow thru LB Loop. ^JRA
— Metro Los Angeles (@metrolosangeles) December 4, 2013
With the expectation that service would not be restored until at least the evening rush hour, bus shuttle was immediately put in place to get riders between Anaheim Station and the Long Beach loop. At around 3PM, the power line was fully fixed and train service resumed to normal, Sotero said.
Wednesday’s incident is similar to one that occurred on October 28 when a downed power line between 15th St. and Anaheim St. stopped trains from running along Long Beach Blvd. for nearly 24 hours.
Photo: a pantograph on a Blue Line train, similar to the one that damaged power lines Wednesday
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