Vancouver commuters got a dramatic showcase Thursday of how the ongoing transit worker job action could impact public safety.
TransLink said a transit bus brought down live trolley wires near Seymour and Robson streets in downtown Vancouver around 6 p.m., bringing traffic to a brief standstill.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services confirmed a mother and child were trapped inside their vehicle due to the wires, but were safely extracted without any injuries.
Witnesses told Global News several other bystanders and drivers were nearby when the live wires fell.
Get daily National news
It’s not known exactly what caused the wires to come down.
However, both Vancouver Fire and TransLink confirmed that because of the overtime ban for Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) maintenance workers, the wires would not be fully repaired until Friday morning.
TransLink crews were able to bring the wires off the street and out of reach of the public before leaving.
-
![]()
Turkey barn burns down in southern Alberta, taking thousands of turkeys with it -
![]()
Divers remove hundreds of tires from St. Lawrence River near Montreal -
![]()
Missouri executes Marcellus Williams after 2 decades on death row -
![]()
Manitoba, First Nations group start recruiting workers to search landfill for remains
The intersection has been cleared and closed to traffic, with police rerouting drivers around the scene.
Buses along Seymour and Robson are also being rerouted. TransLink is urging riders to visit their alerts page for updated information.
The overtime ban has been in place since Nov. 1 after talks broke down between CMBC and the union representing 5,000 bus and SeaBus operators and maintenance workers.
Hopes of a deal were again dashed Thursday when a new round of talks broke down, leading the union to announce an overtime ban for bus drivers beginning Friday.
Comments