Colorado: Night thefts of copper wire worth $110,000 disrupted RTD trains 21 times since April

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Apologies to marmar. I swiped the story from his favorite source, Mass Transit magazine.

Safety & Security
CO: Night thefts of copper wire worth $110,000 disrupted RTD trains 21 times since April
Oct. 17, 2024

Copper wire thefts along Regional Transportation District rails at night have disrupted train service 21 times since April and thieves escaped with wires worth about $110,000, transit agency officials announced on Wednesday.
By Bruce Finley

Source The Denver Post (TNS)

Copper wire thefts along Regional Transportation District rails at night have disrupted train service 21 times since April and thieves escaped with wires worth about $110,000, transit agency officials announced on Wednesday. ... Police have made one arrest. Many thieves are involved, RTD officials said. ... Each theft disrupted rail service until wiring — taken near track signals, switches, and rail crossings — was replaced.

A similar surge in thefts of copper wiring disrupted RTD trains in 2022. RTD officials tried to deter thieves by embedding copper wire in railroad ties, installing wooden covers, and greasing wires to make them less valuable.

For the RTD, wire thefts have complicated a difficult year as transit work crews scramble to maintain deteriorating track and agency officials face safety problems that have contributed to decreasing ridership. ... Police authorities have linked the thefts to global demand for copper, which creates opportunities for thieves. Transit agencies around the United States and Canada have reported increased copper wire thefts that disrupted service.

RTD officials appealed to riders for help, asking for tips on suspicious behavior along tracks. Tips can be shared anonymously by calling RTD transit police dispatchers at 303-299-2911 or texting to 303-434-9100. Thieves face risks of being hit by trains and electrocution from touching wires.

{snip}

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Wow. I wonder if this is a common problem everywhere?

[duncang]

2. Yep.

Houses get stripped of their wiring during construction. Ground wires get stripped off of power poles. The wire between light poles and going up the poles get stolen.

It’s not new though. Back in the 70’s a place that made modular power stations had tons of copper stolen. A inside job. They used one of the forklifts there to load up a company truck. I’ve worked on jobs where copper ground wire was stolen. That’s one of the easiest thing to get.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Well, rehabs (housing) is one common area we saw where the wiring was stolen out of some homes

we were looking at.

Pretty common actually. The house we ended up buying had most of it's wiring stolen but that was okay, when we bought a place finally, we wanted to mostly gut/rehab it (which we did), so 90% of all the wiring was redone, along w/ a new electric box (having 3 total). I felt much better w/ that, than the original box, which everything was loaded out of it to begin w/ (so we shifted lots of loads to the other two boxes, just for safety's sake.

That's one reason why I'm glad I know a little about electric, so I can wire, etc. (but not the box itself, leave that to the experts).

[DFW]

4. It sure is a problem here in Germany

I've had to delay trips and get into slow buses while international lines were down because organized thieves stole the copper cables that let the trains zip between Köln-Aachen-Brussels. They pick times of night when traffic is slow, and dismantle tons of copper cable lines at a time. These are organized bands from Eastern Europe and/or North Africa who shoot back, so German cops don't like dealing with them. Hand-wringing the morning after is deemed much safer. To deflect and swerve, as it were.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Wow. I guess I don't feel bad if one of these crooks accidently electrocutes themselves, am I a bad person?

Not really, but that money is literally coming out of our pockets (via taxes whatever).

No wonder they are trying to develop wireless modes of hauling electric current. You see this in some phones able to recharge themselves now, perhaps one day, eh?

[DFW]

7. A high speed train is different from a cell phone, but maybe some day

I'd be very apprehensive of living anywhere near a place where thousand of volts of electricity were being zapped through the area instead of being delivered by underground wire cables. I don't know if there is such a thing as "electricity pollution," but if the instances of tumors and brain cancer triple in the area, it might be a good place to move away from until the technology is made safe.

[SWBTATTReg]

8. Better to be safe than sorry. The power line companies have long argued that it's safe under power lines

but I don't agree. Heck, w/ my hearing aids on, and I have them turned to the phone option (to hear on telephones), and I get too close to power being emitted, e.g., like embedded in a wall, I can hear the hum of the electric line in the wall! So, there is electro magnetic charges there, being emitted by the live wires.

[DFW]

9. I don't think there is any 100% safe insulation/isolation

There was probably a good reason users of high-powered cell phones were said to suffer from high percentages of brain tumors, though I don't know how good the statistics were that backed that up.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. I don't think they have had enough studies on these emissions causing such things, being that the power

companies have probably poured in tons of money to fight such charges / claims that power cables are somewhat dangerous, need to be shielded.

[DFW]

11. I'm sure you're right

Large scale manufacturers of anything don't want to be informed about (much less held responsible for) dangerous and possibly fatal consequences from the use of whatever it is they make.

(oh, the doors tend to fly off our planes in mid-flight? here's some extra masking tape, just in case!)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Copper wire thefts on the rise, causing delays for Metro's rail lines - Los Angeles Times

Hat tip, a mailing list I'm on.

Copper wire thefts on the rise, causing delays for Metro's rail lines - Los Angeles Times

Saumya Gupta
July 1, 2023 6 AM PT

A section of Los Angeles’ Metro rail system that extends from Norwalk to the South Bay was delayed this week because of the theft of copper wires used to power the rail cars. ... The incident marks the latest in a surge of thefts of valuable copper wiring, which has caused disruptions for the rail system, which serves more than 5 million riders a month.

In 2022, Metro reported more than 60 copper wire thefts, mainly affecting the Metro A Line, formerly known as the Blue Line. So far this year, there have been 21 thefts, mainly on the C Line, formerly the Green Line, Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesperson, said in an email. These thefts are happening on the above-ground sections of the light rail lines.

Copper wire thieves are also targeting lights on Los Angeles streets and freeways. In the last four years, Caltrans has spent about $24 million on repairs, according to NBC News.

The thefts from the rail system can cause service delays and interruptions for passengers, forcing Metro to use buses, reduce train speeds or rely on a single track, said Errol Taylor, Metro’s deputy chief operations officer. ... The thefts cost the transit agency between $8,000 and $15,000 each time to repair, Taylor said.

{snip}

Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.

Mon Jul 3, 2023: Copper wire thefts on the rise, causing delays for Metro's rail lines - Los Angeles Times

[sanatanadharma]

12. We see this happening in Uruguay

At times the stories about the theft of copper wire includes the news that the thief was electrocuted.