Thefts on Denver rail lines causing “significant impacts”

Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) has reported at least five instances of copper wire theft near track signals and rail crossings over the past week, resulting in “significant impacts” to light-rail services.

The agency is investigating multiple cases of thieves targeting copper wire which has caused signal issues, train delays and the need for replacement bus shuttles.

“The RTD has implemented methods to discourage would-be thieves,” Dave Jensen, Assistant General Manager of Rail Operations, RTD told Cities Today.

“The agency has interwoven the copper wire through railroad ties, installed wooden covers, greased the wires to make it less valuable and added tracking devices to copper wire coils across the system.

“RTD also has high-definition security cameras across its service area and increased security patrols and are working with the local police jurisdictions in areas of high probable theft.

“Agency officials are also in contact with other transit agencies to learn about other methods that have been successful in deterring or preventing theft.”

The copper wiring provides connections to a low-voltage system that powers signals at rail crossings, as well as high-voltage circuits that power trains through overhead wires.

According to the agency, most of the recent thefts have happened overnight with thieves striking at different locations across the system’s 193-kilometre network.

Growing problem for US cities

Surging copper prices – which have almost doubled over the past five years – along with mounting social problems since the pandemic have been attributed to the rise in thefts which are now plaguing several US cities.

Streetlights and fire hydrants are also popular targets for criminals.

Across Los Angeles County, more than 290 fire hydrants have been removed by thieves since January.

In the Las Vegas area, over 295 kilometres of wiring has gone missing from streetlights over the past two years.

Aside from the financial impact, the thefts also pose a risk to city staff.

In June, two Las Vegas municipal workers were seriously injured replacing streetlight wiring that had been targeted by thieves.

In February, Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de León, who represents the downtown area, voted for the creation of a task force to combat the thefts in LA.

In de León’s district alone, there were 6,900 cases of copper wire theft in the last fiscal year, up from just 600 cases five years ago.

Earlier this week, the city announced that 82 arrests have been made in relation to recent thefts, with over 900 kilogrammes of wiring recovered.

“Our message is very clear to the criminals that are stripping the city part by part – The city of Los Angeles is no longer your ATM machine,” De León said during a press conference.

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