Door to Muni LRV flies off train between Church & Castro Stations

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The door to a Muni light rail vehicle (LRV) flew off the train between Castro and Church street stations while the train was in motion Tuesday evening, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) confirms. 

According to a witness, James Chang, who tweeted photos of the incident around 7:30 p.m., the train was nearly empty when the door flew off as they sped through the tunnel. 

Inbound service was delayed between the stations with what SFMTA called a "door issue" on Twitter.  

SFMTA spokeman Paul Rose sent KTVU an email saying it was an isolated incident. 

"The mechanism that holds the door in place became fatigued and came loose on Ocean Avenue. The train entered the subway at West Portal and the door began to shake in the tunnel. No calls to the operator were made. After Castro station, the door flapped even more and hit a signal pole and flew off the vehicle. No one was near the door and no one was injured," he wrote.

 He also said this type of incident hasn't happened with these trains in the last 10 years. 

"Going forward, we will include inspections of this specific mechanism as part of our routine maintenance. The new trains do not have these parts."