SkyTrain delays cause Friday afternoon commute chaos
Reports came in of commuters walking on the sides of the tracks after leaving stalled trains
SkyTrain experienced major delays Friday afternoon during rush hour after a "problem train" between Gateway and Scott Road stations caused a system-wide shutdown.
It's the third major shutdown of SkyTrain during commute times in the last two months and TransLink put the blame on riders for causing the hour-long delay.
In July, two system-wide SkyTrain shutdowns within five days of each other left thousands of commuters fuming after they were given no information when communications systems failed.
A TransLink official told CBC that the problem train car stopped between the Scott and Gateway stations in Surrey.
TransLink said passengers leaving the cars led to the major delays.
The initial train that had experienced technical problems came to a halt just outside of Gateway Station just after 5 in the afternoon.
But within minutes of the train stopping, some passengers broke open the emergency door release and began exiting the train on to the track which carry a 600-volt charge and could have caused an electrocution, according to TransLink
For safety reasons, TransLink said in a statement that it was forced to completely shutdown power on the section of the line between Scott Road and Gateway stations and the SkyTrain official had to escort people to the station.
"What should have been a seven-to-ten minute delay ended up being almost an hour as more than 100 passengers places themselves at risk by walking on the gateway."
TransLink said the actions of the passengers who walked on to the track caused thousands of commuters to be further delayed.
Passengers from a second train also forced open the door and entered the track, TransLink said.
The shutdown affected only the Expo/Millennium Line. The Canada Line was not affected.
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