A roller coaster near Montreal called "Le Monstre" really lived up to its name Sunday night. Twenty eight people were trapped on the train at Quebec's La Ronde amusement park when it suddenly stopped.

Passengers were trapped on the highest peak of the wooden roller coaster for half an hour. The cars were on their way up the highest slope of Le Monstre, the park's biggest roller coaster, when the motor konked out.

Luckily Le Monstre was equipped with a device that prevented the cars from crashing back down. Firefighters were called to the rescue to help the passengers walk down the wooden steps to safety. No one was hurt.

Six years ago the same accident happened on the same roller coaster; once again, the transformer blew and the train had to be evacuated.

Yves Despres, the chief of operations for the fire department says firefighters perform at least two rescues at the park every year. Despres says mechanical failure can happen on any one of the park's rides. He says Le Monstre is no more dangerous than any of the others.

Opposition councillor Marvin Rotrand says La Ronde's safety standards are up to speed. But he says attendance levels have been dropping for the past seven years in spite of that. Rotrand says this latest incident may only make the situation worse.

"Twenty-eight people being stuck at the top of the roller coaster is not something that's going to make some people who might have thought of going there suddenly more attracted to the site," Rotrand told CBC News.

Rotrand wants a change to the park's funding which now receives money from the city of Montreal. He says taxpayers shouldn't be forced to put money into an amusement park that is failing.

But some roller coaster lovers say Sunday's incident won't deter them in the least: "It just makes it that much more interesting," says one Monstre fanatic. "Imagine: all the possibilities of a crash in every ride. That's what builds you up to go on it."