Light rail service on Sound Transit’s 1 Line and 2 Line experienced significant disruptions on Feb. 20 after copper wire theft damaged power systems along portions of the network. The agency reported that the 1 Line was shut down at approximately 6:30 a.m. Friday and restored just before 11 a.m., according to information posted on Sound Transit’s official rider alert page.

The 2 Line sustained damage the previous night at around 9 p.m., halting trains between the Overlake Village and downtown Redmond stations. A spokesperson for Sound Transit, Amy Enbysk, confirmed that both incidents were caused by copper theft. As of Sound Transit’s latest public alert on Friday morning, the agency had not provided an estimated reopening time for the affected segment of the 2 Line. Sound Transit advised riders to use shuttle buses between Federal Way and Angle Lake, with service intervals of approximately 15 minutes. Additional options are listed on the agency’s website.

The outage follows a Feb. 11 shutdown on the 1 Line between the Star Lake Station in Kent and the Angle Lake Station in SeaTac, when copper wire theft caused a power issue that halted service for nearly three hours. The 1 Line’s south extension, opened in December, has experienced several short disruptions since its launch. Sound Transit has attributed many of those service issues to power fluctuations linked to attempted or successful wire theft.

Sound Transit has increased cameras, alarms, and other security measures in response to the escalating pattern of theft, but the agency reports that intrusions continue. Rising commodity values have intensified incentives for copper theft nationwide. Analysts have documented sustained high copper prices, including reporting by CNBC at the end of 2025 examining record-level pricing in global markets, available at this link.

Recent incidents elsewhere in the Puget Sound region reflect similar trends. In Ballard, approximately $40,000 worth of copper wire was stolen from a construction site over several months in 2025, according to reporting by KIRO 7 documented at this report. Embedded tracking devices eventually helped investigators trace stolen materials to vehicles carrying hundreds of pounds of wire.

Infrastructure owners and utilities have pressed lawmakers to intervene as the problem expands. At a Washington State Senate hearing last fall, representatives of Comcast testified that copper theft had “risen to a crisis level” as prices increased. Coverage of that hearing is available through the Washington State Standard at this article. Lumen, a major telecommunications provider, reported more copper thefts in Washington than in any other state.

In January, lawmakers introduced House Bill 2213, proposing a ten‑day mandatory holding period before metal recyclers can sell scrap and requiring photos of wire to be uploaded to a searchable statewide database. The bill would also give police authority to seize wire suspected of being stolen even after resale.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Ernsdorff of King County, in comments aired on Seattle’s Morning News and summarized by MyNorthwest at this link, stated that many recyclers knowingly accept stolen metal. He emphasized that the nature and condition of the materials often make the source obvious.

Why this matters for Southwest Washington

While these incidents occurred in King County, the underlying issue is statewide. Transit agencies, utilities, and telecommunications networks—including those serving Cowlitz County—depend on exposed or semi‑exposed copper systems. Rising theft rates can strain public budgets, divert maintenance resources, and contribute to service disruptions that ripple outward through regional transportation corridors such as the I‑5 spine.

Any sustained escalation also increases the likelihood that similar thefts could target infrastructure farther south, including freight rail signals, communications lines, and power distribution equipment critical to emergency response and local commerce. State-level legislative responses will therefore have implications well beyond Puget Sound, affecting how local jurisdictions, recyclers, and law enforcement agencies in Southwest Washington manage metal‑theft risks.

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