Passengers leave stalled SkyTrains

Photo: Contributed - CTV Vancouer

For the second time in a week, passengers aboard two of Metro Vancouver's rapid-transit lines pried open the doors of stalled trains and walked along the system's narrow, elevated tracks.

TransLink spokeswoman Colleen Brennan says an electrical short at about 12:30 p.m. Monday sparked a power outage and forced cars on SkyTrain's Expo and Millennium lines to go down, affecting thousands of commuters

Transit Police spokeswoman Anne Drennan says passengers along the entire system pried open the trains' doors and walked along the tracks to nearby stations.

Drennan says even more people did so than during a similar shutdown four days ago.

She says Transit Police sympathize with frustrated passengers who are stuck inside stalled cars but points out the tracks carry an electrical charge of 600 volts.

Brennan says the Millennium line was down for just under four hours, while the Expo line was down for almost five hours.