Skytrain Derailment At Miami Int'l Airport Leaves Travelers Frustrated
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Instead of zipping down the tracks, transporting thousands of travelers making their way to their holiday destinations, the sky train at Miami International Airport is stopped.
Airport managers say it happened around 2 a.m. Tuesday, while an operator was on board doing maintenance. That employee was not hurt.
But the accident has forced airport managers to shut down a convenient method of travel through MIA during a very busy travel time.
"It's just a bad travel day today so many people and I had regretted not asking for a cart because my hip was hurting, I had to carry things," traveler Carmen Reyes told CBS4's Natalia Zea.
She's not alone. Barbara Wright is beyond frustrated.
"They have all these little carts that people can ride in but there was nobody driving any of them. I've never been in an airport that didn't have back and forth travel with them," she said.
It was also a big inconvenience for Pat Kubheka, who at 5-months pregnant, walked so far from her gate she had to stop for a bathroom break.
"We walked from the other side of the airport all the way to here...I had to do a pit stop by the loo first while I came all the way here, it's far!"
This isn't the first time this airport has dealt with train trouble.
In 2012, the MIA Mover which was transporting passengers to and from the rental car area derailed, sending people flying in the car. One man even grabbed a child from a stroller in the commotion. No one was seriously hurt.
Passengers we spoke with were glad none of them were on board during today's derailment, and most had a positive outlook about the accident.
"It's a long walk. It's good exercise though," said Rabbi Lustig of Washington D.C.
Airport managers say all four train cars involved in the derailment have been removed from the tracks, but the train system remains shut down.
The cars and the train tracks will be inspected to determine the cause of this derailment.
In the meantime, managers say passengers who don't want to hoof it across the airport, can take the tram service in the terminal.