Copper wire theft interrupts NYC subway system

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): Theft of copper power cables disrupted A train services on New York City’s subway system on Wednesday morning. According to Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials, culprits might have stolen the copper cables to be sold for scrap. The cable theft was detected at 11:22 pm EDT (0322 GMT) on Tuesday night, when a northbound A train lost power north of Howard Beach station.

The statement issued by the MTA stated that the massive copper cable theft from subway tracks near Howard Beach, Queens left hundreds of thousands of customers stranded at subway stations during the morning peak hours. The incident led to enormous crowding along all 31 miles of the A train from the Rockaways to Inwood in Upper Manhattan. Service was completely shut down at Howard Beach until about 10 a.m. The MTA authorities operated shuttle bus service between Rockaway Boulevard and Broad Channel stations to manage the passenger rush.

Nearly 500 feet of copper cable was stolen from different locations along the tracks near Howard Beach. Also, some signal equipment and track components were found damaged, MTA confirmed.

According to Police, this is the twelfth copper theft incident in the subway system during this year. The number of thefts has increased slightly when compared with the corresponding period last year. The copper wires sheathed in heavy rubber are usually very heavy with a foot weighing about eight tonnes. Hence, the police suspects that the theft might have taken in small pieces. As per current market price, a pound of copper wire costs nearly $3.25.

The police stated that the Howard Beach area did not have motion detection cameras installed. Hence pictures of thieves are not available. However, investigations are on.