Portland streetcar lines shut down for entire day after streetcar derails in crash

Portland’s streetcar system was put through a full-day shutdown after a collision knocked a streetcar off of the tracks and into multiple other vehicles. If a similar incident had occurred along one of the proposed Surrey LRT lines, it would have caused major commuter chaos for a full day.

According to The Oregonian, KOIN and others, the streetcar was derailed just after 12PM after a truck collided with the streetcar and then was pushed along by it – hitting two other cars, one of which was parked. The incident left one person injured.

With a key portion of both A and B loop routes blocked, this particular incident necessitated a full shut-down of this streetcar line. Restoring service meant crews had to use cranes to lift the derailed streetcar back onto the tracks. This work took more than 11 hours to complete. The A and B loop routes remained shut down for this entire duration, which went past the end of streetcar service hours.

Surrey’s LRT proposal could face similar full-day shutdowns

The proposed Surrey Light Rail Transit system will run at street level on segments of 104th Avenue, King George Boulevard and Fraser Highway, and crosses busy arterial roads at major intersections similar to the Portland Streetcar as well as the MAX Light Rail system.

Incidents like this where LRT vehicles are knocked off of tracks in a derailment will generally necessitate a complete shut down of that segment of the LRT system for an extremely long period of time.

Once again, this incident highlights a major, fundamental flaw of the proposed street-running light rail system endorsed by TransLink, the Regional Mayors’ Council, and the City of Surrey. The proposed LRT lines run in the medians of major arterial roads, and would cross through several busy intersections at street level.

Any one of these busy intersections could be blocked and shut down if there is an accident.

SkyTrain for Surrey has called for the cancellation of the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT project, the conversion of the Surrey-Langley LRT into a SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line, and the construction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue (instead of an LRT).

With BRT’s ability to detour around accident areas, and SkyTrain’s ability to simply pass overhead, a rapid transit system built on SkyTrain and BRT would not be subject to total disruptions.

Surrey residents expect their future rapid transit system to be a trustworthy and reliable service. A street-running LRT system will not deliver one.