Independent report on SkyTrain shutdowns arrives tomorrow

Remember that independent review struck by TransLink after the memorable SkyTrain outages of July 17 and 21?

TransLink had promised that reviewer Gary McNeil would file his report by the end of October.

Days after the municipal elections, TransLink has scheduled the release of the report for Tuesday (November 18) at 10 a.m.

A media advisory states:

Media are invited to a briefing on the independent review of the SkyTrain service disruptions that occurred on July 17 and July 21, 2014.

The report and recommendations will be presented by Mr. Gary McNeil.

Copies of the report will be provided.

TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis will also be in attendance to respond to the report.

A 15-20-minute briefing by Mr. McNeil will be followed by comments by Mr. Jarvis.

A question and answer session will follow.

In July, a TransLink backgrounder described the SkyTrain outages this way: "On July 17th and July 21st the Expo and Millennium lines were shut down for extended periods of time. These outages had a significant impact on customers and raised public safety concerns. In both cases the entire system was out of service for periods in excess of four hours.

"Some customers self-evacuated trains, and customer crowding occurred at major transit hubs.

"The first occurrence was caused by the premature failure of a computer system component that controls a segment of the Expo Line, and the second was caused by the loss of power when the main power control panel was accidentally taken out of service while undergoing modifications."

In other words, good times.