New streetcar suffers power glitch

Seattle's new South Lake Union streetcars lost power this morning for a little more than half an hour because of an electrical short in the overhead power system.

The two trains stopped at 10:53 a.m. and restarted at 11:28 a.m., said Rochelle Ogershok, spokeswoman for King County Metro Transit, which operates the city-owned trains. Passengers got off the streetcars, which were near the two ends of the line at that time, she said.

A cause hasn't been confirmed, but the city suspects that the outage happened because the overhead pole ends or "shoes" of a crossing trolley bus — not centered in its road lane — made contact with a streetcar power supply line, at the south end of the route, according to Ethan Melone, streetcar project manager for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Melone said operators will increase their inspections of the streetcar's power system, and would consider adjusting the junctions where trolley and streetcar wires meet.

"We're going to monitor more closely, until we work out the bugs," Melone said.

The $52 million line runs 1.3 miles each way, from the Westin Hotel to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

An estimated 8,000 people boarded on opening day, and an additional 2,050 by mid-afternoon Thursday, a "pretty exciting" showing, said Melone. This afternoon, trains have been carrying 40 to 60 people each, at any given point. Rides are free through Dec. 31.