Two of Metro’s three light rail segments shuttered by an electrical calamity last week are now open, after workers over the weekend completed work to make sure a live wire would not put bystanders into harm’s way.

The part of the Red Line affected, north of University of Houston -Downtown, opened Sunday afternoon, officials with Metropolitan Transit Authority said, with reinforcement of the electrical system completed. Monday afternoon, repair work was completed through downtown and along the Green Line on Harrisburg.

That leaves only the Purple Line from BBVA Compass Stadium to the Palm Center Transit Center using buses to mimic the closed rail line. The Purple Line is expected to open later this week, officials said.

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Metro shut down the rail lines on Wednesday, after deciding that “wire fatigue” along most of the rail system presented a public health risk. Should a wire snap, it would fall to the ground where it could electrocute someone, officials said.

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As a temporary fix, crews are adding support cables before and after a key point along the electrical system where the fatigue is happening, at 79 different spots along the 22-mile system. All of the fatigue is occurring along the portions of the line opened since 2013, which differs slightly in design from the original Red Line from downtown to Fannin South.

Officials do not know the cause of the drooping lines, but are working with the rail lines’ builder to find the cause and correct it. Metro CEO Tom Lambert last week said that if the cause is related to the installation or a defect in the design, Metro would seek damages.

dug.begley@chron.com