Anxious to avoid a repeat of last winter's disastrous effects on light rail, the Mass Transit Administration has embarked on a $1 million effort to keep ice from shutting down the line.
Sleet and freezing rain closed portions of the 22.5-mile-long Central Light Rail Line on at least four occasions in January and February -- usually for days at a time. Ice that formed on the overhead power lines often prevented the collectors, or "pantographs," on each car from making contact and drawing power.
In the worst incident, 42 passengers were stranded in the cold for more than six hours the evening of Jan. 17 when a train became stuck on the Middle Branch bridge.
On one occasion, the entire system was shut down; on another, service south of Camden Station was lost for a week.
The ice storms inconvenienced thousands of commuters and cost the state agency an estimated $175,000 in lost fares and added expenses.
MTA officials have dug into the agency's capital budget to make sure that never happens again. New equipment has made the Timonium-to-Glen Burnie line the most ice-resistant light rail system in the country, said John A. Agro Jr., the MTA's administrator.
"Some might say we've gone to the extreme," Mr. Agro said. "The people in our agency know we didn't respond as we should have [last winter]. We now have the ability to control the situation."
The MTA is experimenting with two systems to keep power lines at temperatures above freezing.
At a test site next to light rail's North Avenue headquarters, two 900-foot-long sections have been strung with wire that will warm the lines when the thermometer plunges.
Ronald L. Freeland, the MTA's transit operations director, said while other elements of the MTA's ice-fighting efforts have been tried successfully elsewhere, the wire-warming system is the first of its kind.
If successful, it could relieve a problem common to most every light rail system, he said.
"We're definitely on the cutting edge here," Mr. Freeland said.
For weeks, maintenance crews have been working on other improvements to the light rail line. Heaters have been installed on top of light rail cars to warm the portion of the pantographs that make contact with the overhead wires. It is identical to technology used in Boston and St. Louis.
The pantographs have also been equipped with ice-scraping "shoes" that rub against the wires.
