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Jul 01, 2023

Riders escorted off Playland wooden roller

Riders had to be escorted down the lift hill at the wooden roller-coaster in Vancouver's Playland on Wednesday due to an equipment issue. The attraction — which celebrated its 65th anniversary this

Riders had to be escorted down the lift hill at the wooden roller-coaster in Vancouver's Playland on Wednesday due to an equipment issue.

The attraction — which celebrated its 65th anniversary this year at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) — had its drive belt slip off while 15 people were riding it on Wednesday afternoon.

It led to the temporary stoppage, followed by riders walking down the roller-coaster's catwalk to get back to the ground.

Laura Ballance, a PNE spokesperson, said that the famous roller-coaster has some "slight idiosyncrasies," and that it occasionally has to stop due to drive belt issues.

"When that happens, the train itself just comes to a stop," she told CBC News. "There's nothing pulling it up. So it just sits as it was designed to do."

Ballance says the drive belt was put back on and safety assessments were conducted Wednesday. The ride was back in service shortly after.

The 90-second-long ride on the famous roller-coaster — designed by Carl Phare — reaches speeds of up to 76 km/h. After the initial climb, which uses the drive belt, the entire ride is powered by gravity.

It was recently refurbished to the tune of $2 million, and the PNE says it hopes the ride will continue to thrill Vancouverites in decades to come.

With files from Michelle Gomez