MetroRail's electricity leaks: Should we be worried?

So the MetroRail line is leaking electricity. It's nothing new: Metro admitted to the problem last year, and since then it's come up more than once. But what's news is that the problem continues to be a problem, and according to community watchdog Tom Bazan, it could bring the Pierce Elevated down on our heads (assuming, of course, we were standing underneath it at the time).

Bazan is worried that the electricity leaking from the line is corroding the foundations of the elevated freeway, and at some point — probably not today, but still — it could compromise the structure and others along the MetroRail route. "I fear the only way to cure it is to shut the system down," Bazan told KHOU last week. But Metro says the leaks are no big thing: "The amount that we're talking about is so small ... that we're talking about a 9-volt battery being discharged from our rail line over the course of a day," Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said.

In May, Metro and TxDOT said the leaks posed no danger to nearby structures, but they planned to test the steel in the foundations of the Pierce Elevated, Southwest Freeway and South Loop where they crossed the line to put the public's minds at ease. However, TxDOT told Channel 11 on Friday that it hasn't checked the Pierce Elevated because it doesn't need to unless engineers find a problem — and Metro said it has asked to take a look at the structure itself. As blogHouston notes, KHOU's video report mentions that Centerpoint Energy replaced some metal gas pipes near the rail line with plastic ones, which seems to indicate they've decided it's better to be safe than sorry.

As for what's causing the leaks, well, apparently no one quite knows. Back in May, Metro said it had was fixing faulty connections between electrical cables and the tracks and was trying to track down the remaining leaks, which seemed to be related to track switches at six locations along the rail line. So far, the agency has had no luck, but we'll see what happens in the future — and in the meantime, we'll keep an eye on the Pierce Elevated.

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Photo: flickr user eschipul