RIOC Investigating Recent Power Surges on Roosevelt Island Tram Causing Brief Shutdown & The Most Awesome Aerial Trams In The World

Image of April 2006 Roosevelt Island Tram Rescue from NY 1

According to the Roosevelt Island Daily Public Safety reports there have been 3 recent incidents reported of Tram Power Suges - 4/2,6, &7 - causing the Tram to lose power for 1-2 minutes. I inquired of RIOC President Steve Shane:

Do you know what the cause of these "surges" are and how does it affect the operation and reliability of the Tram?

Mr. Shane replied:

We are trying to identify the cause of the power surges with Con Ed, but so far not Island based. No effect on Tram except automatic shutdown until resolved.

After jump, the Public Safety reports on Tram power surge incidents and a review of the Most Awesome Aerial Trams In The World.

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0700 hours 04/02/09 - 0700 hours 04/03/09
Power Surge - PSD channel stopped working in PSD. Super checked circuit breaker and reset it. Tram supervisor later stated that the tram stopped running for two minutes then resumed. No injuries or property damage resulting from surge were reported to PSD.

0700 hrs 04/06/09 - 0700 hrs 04/07/09
Power Surge - Caused PSD radio channel to stop operating and Tram to cease and resume after one minute. No injuries or property damage resulting from power surge.

4/7/09-7:00 AM to 4/8/09-7:00 AM

Power Surge- At Tram and effected PSD radio frequency. Power off for one minute. No injuries or property damage.

Blogger World of Mysteries includes the Roosevelt Island Tram among the Most Awesome Aerial Trams In The World.

Although the numbers of people who use aerial tramways as tourists are vast, the record for the amount of people to use a system must involve it being part of a mass transit system. One would normally associate mass transit with speed rather than the slow grace of the aerial tramway. However, spanning the East River in New York City, the Roosevelt Island Tramway connects the latter with Manhattan. It began service in 1976 and has since then carried almost thirty million people. Until recently with the introduction of the Portland system it was the only mass transit aerial tramway in the USA. And yes, you did see it in the Spider-man film.