.png)
Goldbelt Tram accident due to a series of equipment and operator failures, former managers say
- Mark Sabbatini
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
‘Basically, the tram didn’t know where it was,’ says one supervisor; company’s president says tram won’t reopen until extensive repair and inspection process occurs
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
An accident resulting in a prolonged closure of the Goldbelt Tram was due to mechanical and operator failures that resulted in the cars approaching the docking stations at high speed rather than slowing automatically, according to two former managers of the cable lift.
“Basically, the tram didn’t know where it was,” said James Ward, the tram’s operations manager from 2018 to 2021, in an interview a few days after the April 30 accident.
The tram has a “pulse counter” that controls the length of a full trip up or down the mountain, Ward said. When a malfunction occurred after the cars traveled partway down, that counter was reset, and thus the cars were programmed to travel further than the distance remaining to their docking stations.
An employee at the base saw the car emerge from the dark as it approached the base station and hit an emergency stop control, but it was too late to prevent a high-speed impact, he said.
The same technical description of the accident and the tram’s general operations was provided in a separate interview by a second manager who worked at the tram more recently. The second manager, who asked not to be named to avoid controversy at a job with a new employer, described the incident as “an extremely unfortunate, 100% preventable series of snowball events.”
Goldbelt President and CEO McHugh Pierre, in a May 22 interview, said he can’t confirm or deny the managers’ description of the accident.
“What I can say to you is that our investigation found that there was an operational event that caused an emergency stop to occur,” he said.
An operations manager and maintenance manager had stopped working for the tram in the weeks before the accident occurred, resulting in relatively inexperienced people on duty the day the accident happened, according to the former managers interviewed by the Independent. Pierre said he cannot comment on personnel matters involving the company.
The tram has a typical operating speed of five to eight meters per second and a “creep speed” of 0.25 meters per second, which the cars slow to as they approach the docking station, Ward said. It appears a fault in the tram’s Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), which sends signals between the stations and cars, caused the errant halt to the cars’ journey along their lines. A reset of the PLC by an operator changed the pulse counter and resulted in the cars resuming at five meters per second, according to Ward.
Five employees were in the descending car, two of whom were treated for injuries at Bartlett Regional Hospital. Goldbelt announced May 4 the tram would be closed for repairs until May 24, but Pierre, in his May 22 interview, said he didn’t authorize that date.
“Saying we would open on May 24 was premature and inappropriate, because we're not going to open until we are certified as a safe operation to carry employees and guests — period,” he said. “Now, obviously, we are anticipating opening this summer, but we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we meet and exceed safety requirements and our internal safety protocol.”
“Essentially we're x-raying all of the metal, all of the welds, we're replacing parts that need to be replaced, fabricating parts that have to be fabricated to be replaced,” he said. “And that's why, again, we're going through the entire recertification process. We are going to inspect every element of the mechanical systems to make sure that we are safe to operate before we operate again. And I'm going to be the first person that goes up in a car. I'm very confident about that and insistent on that.”
In a follow-up email on June 10, responding to questions about the tram’s status, Pierre stated, “We’re beginning to make repairs to equipment according to the instructions from third party engineers.” However, an estimated reopening date isn’t yet known.
“We’re still optimistic we will open for business in 2026, but safety remains our focus through this event,” he wrote. “Our gateway to reopen the business is certified safety of operations.”
In the May 22 interview, Pierre estimated, “We're probably at the 35% mark of completion.”
“We are going to take off the tram cars and we're going to have them very specifically evaluated, and some pieces are going to be replaced,” he said. “We have fabrication happening for those pieces right now. None of that fabrication can happen in Juneau, so it's literally happening all across North America to fabricate parts for us, and then we'll have to have those parts welded on and inspected, so all of that is going to take place before we can be inspected for operations.”
Damage to the sky bridge at the top where a tram car struck is also being repaired, and the cables and docking stations are undergoing thorough scrutiny, Pierre said.
Goldbelt has taken steps to keep its employees and customers engaged during the shutdown.
The base station, shut for a period of days after the accident, has reopened with a cafe, gifts, and activities such as Alaska Native crafts demonstrations and totem carving. Pierre on May 22 said there have been no layoffs of tram staff due to the accident.
The company also announced May 20 all season pass holders would get refunds — and that the passes would remain "fully active and valid for the entire season once operations resume."
Pierre said the prolonged closure of the tram won’t have a significant impact on Goldbelt’s finances.
"The tram has a very visual and emotional impact locally because it provides jobs to our people, and it's something that's very visible in the community, but from a business perspective it's less than 3% of our total revenue," he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
.jpg)
