Busted N-Judah Tunnel the Result of Copper Wire Theft? (w/updates)

Photo by Flickr user Ce nest pas un JB.

Update (4:16 p.m.): KCBS has confirmed that the troubles this morning in the Sunset Tunnel were, in fact, caused by the theft overnight of copper wires.

Update (11:44 a.m.): MTA says rail service has resumed, but they’re keeping shuttles in place “until service is restored.” We’ll let you figure out WTF that means.

Also, rider Nic sends us this report and photo:

I knew it was bad the moment I got on the nearly empty train this morning. The driver says “For those of you who just got on, I have some bad news.” The news was that I was going to be late. The Sunset Tunnel was out of service. Good times.

Got a picture of the first of two transfers at Hillway.

Update (11:27 a.m.): Brian Brooks has photos from this morning’s scene:

Update (11:07 a.m.): Haighternation has photos of the scene. You can see a new spool of copper wire that looks like it’s about to be installed. No word yet on whether theft was the issue.

Original post: SF Appeal was all over this story as soon as we awoke this morning. The first reports said that the N-Judah Sunset Tunnel was down due to wire problems. Then MTA reported that Muni was single-tracking through the tunnel, and also running shuttles from the Sunset to Church and Duboce. Then they were like, just kidding, no single-tracking through the tunnel; shuttles only.

Then we came across a report via @pburnham indicating that the meltdown was caused by an overnight theft of copper wiring in the tunnel. We’re trying to verify whether that’s true. Stay tuned. And yes, if you usually commute on the N-Judah, find another way for now.