FYI -- December 25, 2004 THE NATION Las Vegas Monorail Is Back on Track Following a shutdown in September for safety reasons, trains resumed operations on a 30-day conditional permit. The system is under review. From Associated Press LAS VEGAS ? The Las Vegas Monorail began carrying passengers Friday for the first time since being shut down Sept. 8 for safety reasons. "It's a new day for the monorail," Todd Walker, spokesman for monorail's administrator, Transit Systems Management, said after watching passengers board trains for free at a station behind the Sahara hotel-casino. He said the first trains ran about half-full. Administrators planned to begin regular 8 a.m.-to-2 a.m. operations today, and start charging fares on Wednesday, Walker said. Clark County officials ordered several weeks of close inspections and empty-train testing before granting 30-day conditional approval Thursday for public operation. Restoring service in time for Christmas offered the monorail a chance to reap revenue during the busy New Year's Eve weekend and a big Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center the following week. The 3.9-mile elevated track follows a Z-shaped route linking the Convention Center and several large hotels on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip. Officials had said the shutdown was costing $85,000 a day in lost fares: $3 per trip; $10 per day pass. Ron Lynn, head of the county building division, said system builder Bombardier Corp. of Montreal would have to pass a 30-day review to extend the conditional operating permit to June. The nine-train, $650-million system opened July 15 ? six months late ? and operated for eight weeks before a metal piece fell off the drive shaft of a moving train Sept. 8 and hit a power rail, causing an electrical arc but no serious damage. A week earlier, a wheel fell off a train and landed in a casino parking lot. No one was hurt. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.