The Monongahela Incline will remain closed through the weekend.
The incline was closed Tuesday evening as it had multiple electrical and mechanical failures that prevented cars from slowing down and stopping when they approached stations on Mount Washington and Station Square on Pittsburgh’s South Side, Pittsburgh Regional Transit said.
The agency is running shuttle buses between Mount Washington and Station Square when it has drivers available.
Spokesman Adam Brandolph said Friday the agency and a subcontractor of Mosites Construction Co. have identified some of the problems and are working to identify and solve others at the subcontractor’s cost. Mosites was the general contractor on an $8.1 million overhaul of the mechanical system for the funicular that finished last March.
Brandolph said one issue is that indicators that should tell the cars to slow down malfunctioned, so they are being replaced.
The incline opened in 1870 and is the oldest continuously operating funicular system in the country. It carries about 600,000 riders a year, about half of them tourists.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.