Safer cable cars return after 10-day rehabilitation hiatus

San Francisco’s iconic cable car bells are ringing once again Monday after a 10-day hiatus to allow for much needed maintenance work. 

Mechanics rehabilitated the gearbox that powers the system and propels cars up The City’s steep hills. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency completed the gearbox rehabilitation on the Powell-Hyde line, which required closure of all cable car lines beginning Sept. 13.

To the dismay of some tourists, the transit agency offered bus shuttles as an alternative during the system shutdown. According to the SFMTA, the 10-day period is necessary to complete the overhaul of a gearbox, including adequate time to test the system.

The Powell-Hyde line gearbox is the last to be completed as part of a $7 million project that set out to rehabilitate the four gearboxes operating in the Cable Car Barn and a spare gearbox kept in a storage facility, all of which have been in service since 1984, according to transit officials.  

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.