A good portion of the $113 million worth of wiring going into the new Transbay Transit Center may have to be replaced if trains ever begin running into the station.

Right now, the building’s underground portion is nothing more than a three-block-long, empty concrete box, added to the center at a cost of $400 million. But if trains actually start running — and that’s still years off — a substantial upgrade to the wiring will be needed to comply with national fire codes for passenger rail stations.

Trains or no trains, however, the huge $2.4 billion center still needs lights and power downstairs for security and other back-of-the-house operations that will go into service when the building’s bus hub and rooftop garden open in August. So the lower level is being fitted with lower-grade wire for now.

The idea is not to “waste tax dollars” installing the higher-grade wiring when it could take six to 10 years — or even longer — for train service to begin, said Transbay Center spokeswoman Christine Falvey.

Plus, project manager Ron Alameida said, fire codes are changed about every three years, and it’s too soon to say precisely how the empty train space will be built out.

“You are meeting today’s needs rather than trying to second-guess the future,” Alameida said. “It would be a fool’s bet to do anything other than we have ... done.”

Oakland whispers: Oakland City Councilwoman at large Rebecca Kaplan is doing nothing to douse rumors that she’s about to announce another run for mayor — possibly as early as Wednesday.

“I am considering it,” Kaplan told us late Friday, taking aim at what she sees as “Oakland’s rising problems” under incumbent Mayor Libby Schaaf — including “skyrocketing rates of homelessness and illegal dumping, which the current administration is failing to implement solutions for.

“Also, Oakland continues to suffer from the worst air quality in the region,” said Kaplan, blaming Schaaf for cutting off the city’s “access to funding and solutions” when she recommended that Kaplan be replaced on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board with Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin.

Veteran East Bay political consultant Doug Linney, who ran Kaplan’s 2008 and 2016 campaigns for City Council, said a friend texted him last week that Kaplan was about to announce her third run for mayor and, frankly, he was taken aback.

“I’m a bit disappointed but not surprised,” Linney said before Kaplan confirmed her interest. “I just think it’s a bad move for her.”

As he sees it, Donald Trump’s recent decision to take on Schaaf when she alerted the public to Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps has “made her a hero to a lot of people who may not have paid attention to what she was doing.

“Everyone understands it’s a hard office and a tough city to rule, and Libby has been giving her full attention and bringing a pretty considerable skill set to it,” Linney said. “So I think she gets lots of support — and someone has to come along and prove they can do a better job, or else it’s a hopeless mission.”

Linney says he believes Kaplan has shown an ability “to think outside the box” and to produce “great policy initiatives,” but he also questions whether her go-it-alone approach to politics will allow her to build the coalitions needed to win a race in November.

Linney said he had urged Kaplan not to challenge Schaaf some time ago, but she had been evasive about her decision. He was not asked to join any potential campaign.

In November 2010, Kaplan placed third in ranked-choice voting for mayor, finishing behind Jean Quan and runner-up Don Perata.

In 2014, she finished second in a field of 15 candidates, but well behind Schaaf.

Book ’em: If you want an idea of how pervasive the hard drug use and drug dealing are in San Francisco’s Mid-Market area, just look at a sample of the recent reports coming out of Tenderloin Police Station.

•May 30: “Tonight, 10 more drug dealers booked into county jail as a result of an undercover operation. Of the 10, 4 were out on their own recognizance from jail, nine have priors and nine were charged with dealing near schools with students present.”

•May 29: “Civic Center BART Station. Sunday morning Tenderloin officers arrested suspect with 315 bindles (116 grams) of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine packaged for sale. Memorial Day Surveillance of dealers at Hyde and Ellis Streets has led to the seizure of almost 40 grams of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.”

•May 18: “Tenderloin officers have again arrested a man for 41 bindles of packaged heroin, meth and cocaine. The suspect was released from jail on his own recognizance for same offense, same block, 3 weeks ago.”

•May 17: “A 25-year-old suspect arrested for dealing narcotics while on felony probation.”

And so it goes.

“We are arresting them as fast we can, and the district attorney is charging more than 90 percent of the cases,” said Tenderloin Capt. Carl Fabbri.

Once arrested, however, the dealers are typically being released by judges on their own recognizance as their cases work their way through the court system.

“And they are coming back to us and we are arresting them again — and they are sending them back again,” Fabbri said. He added that most of those arrested are from Oakland.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross