Steel rail ties give Capital Metro fits

Electrical problems and theft

Vilas Bhuchar, Mar 22, 10.

Steel railroad ties have caused a number of problems for Capital Metro, Austin’s transit agency, which purchased 65,000 ties for $4.5 million and installed 46,000 of them in recent years, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

In one case, steel ties contributed to conductivity problems on a 2,000-foot section of track during commuter rail testing.  The steel ties were replaced by wooden ones at a cost of about $90,000, notes the story.  Furthermore, steel ties have been susceptible to theft, with scrap metal scavengers making off with about 600 of them, agency officials said, according to the story.

Steel ties are more expensive than standard wooden ties and are known to contribute to electronic signal failures, according to the story.  Capital Metro started purchasing and installing the steel ties before deciding to build a passenger rail system that would rely on electronic signal equipment, but installation of steel ties continued even afterward, notes the story.

The agency has removed some of the steel ties along its Llano-to-Giddings freight line and sold others at a loss, including a sale of 11,000 steel ties at a loss of $400,000 in August, notes the story.  Capital Metro said further removal of steel ties probably will be necessary, especially if the agency someday expands commuter rail east to Manor and Elgin, adds the story.

Finally, the steel ties were not a major factor in the two-year delay in starting MetroRail service (set to begin March 22), according to Capital Metro’s railroad manager, Bill LeJeune.  Still, he regrets the purchases and said, “I wish I’d never done it,” according to the story.

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(Photo credit: BruceTurner)

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