Las Vegas has taken a different approach to the light-rail public transport question — reduce it to one rail and sling it overhead. Their new $650 million monorail system is even financed through private channels. Try that for a concept. (Private funding, I mean, not the EPCOT Center-approach to street cars.)

Unfortunately, they do have a few bugs to work out —

On Sept. 8, a two-pound piece of metal fell from the train, prompting an extended shutdown of the line that runs a four-mile route roughly parallel to the Vegas Strip. That mishap followed a Sept. 1 incident in which a 60-pound tire assembly flew from a train and landed in a parking lot, resulting in a six-day suspension of service.

In August, a worker for the Canadian company that assembled the monorail trains and operates the system accidentally opened the doors on the wrong side of the car when it pulled into the Las Vegas Hilton station. Instead of doors opening onto a platform, they opened onto a steep drop to the street.

No one has been hurt in the problems, but confidence in the system’s reliability wears thin with each incident.

Article