TRAX test train likely caused 2nd outage

A TRAX train may have been responsible for unplugging its own power cord.

TRAX was crippled Monday for the second time in two weeks after an overhead electrical cable was severed.

Two weeks ago, the overhead wire snapped where I-80 and the TRAX line intersect near 2800 South. UTA officials said nine years of wear and tear from being under the tight bridge resulted in the wire's insulation dissolving away until it finally snapped on Feb. 25.

The track in that area had not been used since the accident. Trains had been diverted onto the opposite, parallel track.

On Sunday, the track was reopened, with the wires strung overhead with different tensions, said UTA spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware. A test train was sent down the line Sunday evening with no problems.

During the next test train that ran Monday morning, however, the pantograph and horn got caught in the wires, she said. The subsequent short in the wire caused it to snap, she said.

Full TRAX service didn't resume Monday until 5 p.m. Bohnsack-Ware said UTA was working on a full-time solution for the problems with the wire under the bridge.