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LYNX Blue Line repair work done, trains resume service

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of commuters were left in the cold Wednesday morning while CATS worked on repairs to the LYNX Blue Line in south Charlotte.

CATS said service on the Blue Line was disrupted due to a broken insulator on the overhead catenary system, or OCS, south of New Bern Station, causing the rail lines to sag dangerously.

Repair work lasted the majority of the day.

About 10:30 p.m., CATS tweeted: "LYNX Blue Line has resumed service. Trains will operate a normal schedule. Thank you for your patience."

The OCS is the system that powers the light trains.

Crews were working on repairs to the insulator.

A bus bridge was set up between the Interstate 485 and New Bern stations. Buses performing the shuttle link will have "LYNX Connector" on the headway sign.

The light rail was shut down right before the morning rush Wednesday, so most of the city's buses were already tied up running normal routes. That's why CATS was only able to call in nine extra buses for backup.

Channel 9 reporter Mark Barber saw many families with children waiting in the cold. Some commuters told Channel 9 they're worried the disruption will cause them to lose their jobs because they were so late for work.

"When I go to talk to my supervisor, it's a possibility I could lose my job and could get fired, all because the train isn't on time," Tia Crenshaw said.

Channel 9 discovered this is the third time in the past four weeks that trains have been stopped because of a costly equipment problem.

When the tracks were most recently shut down, it was because power lines fell onto the rail line.

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