BELLEVUE, Wash. — Some Light Rail riders had a rough commute Tuesday morning after thieves stole copper wire along the tracks and shut down a lengthy stretch of Sound Transit for most of the day.
Operations were back to normal by Wednesday morning but the thieves caused a massive shutdown on the system’s Eastside. All of which resulted in delays for several commuters.
And, according to Sound Transit Chief of Police Marcus Williams, it’s a problem nationwide.
“I’ve been talking to chiefs nationally,” Williams said. “This is happening all over the country. This isn’t just local to Sound Transit. We are definitely trying to deal with this issue as best as possible.”
Crews found damage overnight affecting service between the Belred and Downtown Redmond Stations.
That’s five stops in total, forcing passengers to take buses during the closures.
Service resumed around 4:45 p.m. after an inspection of the tracks and some repairs.
“It’s kind of crazy…I mean for me at least,” Angel, a South Transit passenger said. “I don’t have a car, so it does suck. if this continues to happen, I’ll have to find alternative transportation to work. And, I know the shuttle takes a little bit longer.”
“It did take probably 30 minutes longer than it normally would’ve taken,” said another displaced anonymous light rail rider.
Meanwhile, the King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this as larceny.
“We’re putting all our resources into this,” confirms Chief Williams.
“It’s very important that we get on top of this and send the message that if you want to steal copper, don’t do it from Sound Transit, because there’s going to be repercussions,” he continues.
It’s the second time service has been interrupted in the last week. A similar theft happened around 2am Saturday morning near Bellevue’s Wilburton Station.
Trains weren’t running at the time, but it did affect service later that day. That was eventually restored at about 2:40pm Saturday afternoon.
However, as of Wednesday morning, there haven’t been any arrests in either incident.
“In the event that we are able to develop a suspect lead, there’s a potential that this could be charged federally. So, we’ll be working with our federal partners as well,” Chief Williams confirms.
Meanwhile, Henry Bendon, a Sound Transit spokesperson, says the agency will increase security patrols while looking into “longer-term technology solutions to monitor and protect these vital public assets.”
Trains were back up and running normally on Wednesday.
That’s good news for the final Club World Cup group stage match at Lumen Field, a Sounders’ game against Austin FC on Saturday, and a weekend full of “Pride” celebrations.
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