Pacific Bell Data Lines Back in Service After Line Was Cut

Automatic bank teller machines, Inter-Track wagering at Santa Anita Race Track and other services connected to Pacific Bell data lines were back in service Saturday after repair crews restored an underground fiber-optic line that was severed Friday in downtown Los Angeles.

The line, consisting of fine strands of glass capable of handling thousands of telephone calls and computer transmissions, was accidentally cut by a Metro Rail construction crew at 1st and Hill streets about 9:30 a.m. Friday. Service was fully restored by 3 a.m. Saturday, said Pacific Bell spokeswoman Charlene Baldwin.

While the line was out, the phone company sought to re-route calls between downtown phone customers and those in Burbank, Glendale and the East San Gabriel Valley. In many cases, such customers were receiving “circuit busy” signals as a result of the outage. Since the service was not completely shut down, phone company officials said they did not determine how many customers were affected.

With no backup service for data lines, Santa Anita’s wagering system for races at Del Mar was shut down all day Friday. Officials at Santa Anita, which is currently not running, said several hundred bettors who had not heard of the problem were turned away.

Also inoperative Friday were the cash machines at about 100 Security Pacific Bank branches throughout California as well as the Telephone Employees Credit Union teller machine in downtown Los Angeles.