The Alton Towers Resort Monorail is closed following an incident yesterday. A fault on one of the track switches caused the ride to nearly derail near the Monorail storage depot. The Monorail driver was able to emergency stop the ride preventing any major injuries and Alton Towers staff were quick to react and reassure passengers, assisting in getting them medical help where appropriate.
We at TowersTimes have an exclusive eye witness report from one of the guests at the resort that day:
The track switched over to the second line that runs down to the tram storage area, the gap between the track and the switch point was nearing and derailing looked imminent. Luckily the driver managed to spot the potential disaster in time to slam on the emergency brakes. We came to a screaming halt, full speed to 0 in about half a second, sending us flying to the front of the carriage.
Phew, major disaster averted, the only consequences being a few cuts and bruises, a guy with a broken nose and a young girl who had bitten through her bottom lip. To our relief the staff were there within a minute, opened the doors and checked us all over. Medics came and got the worst of the injured people out and off to hospital. I, along with four friends was given gas and air in the monorail whilst we waited for paramedics to come and check us over before we could leave.
During the whole incident the staff really took care of us, we were fed, given water, blankets and even put us in the medical centre where we could have a well needed lie down and time to relax while we waited. Finally we arrived home at about 1am, very sore but thankful it wasn’t a lot worse than it could have been!
The staff were all fantastic; very caring and calming. They really kept order and acted so quickly, obviously they train for such events and it definitely paid off.
The Monorail remains closed and is likely to remain so for some time. We will update if we hear anymore.
