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Rail industry crackdown as trespassing criminals cause more than 3,300 hours of delays for passengers in a year
- Trespass crime including cable theft, vandalism, and obstruction caused nearly five months of delays to passengers and cost the industry over £10 million in delay costs in 2025/26
- Cable theft alone caused over 2,100 hours of delays and saw delay costs double to £6.8m in 2025/26
- New crackdown campaign sees rail industry and British Transport Police working closer together than ever in tackling trespass and railway crime
- New technology and better evidence gathering to bring more offenders to justice and reduce impact on passengers.
Latest News
Railway crime and vandalism causes 12 days of delays and £900,000 in costs
New figures show 80 incidents of trespass crime in the West Midlands caused more than 12 days of delays for passengers and cost the railway almost £900,000 in 2025/26.
New Hither Green footbridge opens for passengers as £28m programme hits latest milestone
- New footbridge at Hither Green available for use
- Work continues on installing lifts to make south east London station fully accessible
- Project on track to be completed ahead of schedule
Leaf busting trains set off to keep North West rail routes clear this autumn
A fleet of special ‘leaf busting’ trains is now travelling across the North West blasting leaves off the railway line to keep passengers and freight trains moving this autumn.
Trespassers cause almost 1000 hours of delays to passengers across Scotland's Railway
New figures reveal that trespass, vandalism and cable theft cost Scotland’s Railway almost £2 million over the last year, with 1,231 incidents recorded across the network.
ONE MONTH TO GO: October half-term railway upgrades between Staines and Windsor
- Engineering work takes place between Monday 26 October and Sunday 1 November affecting train services in the Staines, Windsor, Hounslow, Feltham and Virginia Water areas
- Bridge and track upgrades form part of wider plan to reduce delays and improve reliability between London Waterloo, Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside
- Customers should plan their journeys carefully as buses will replace trains
Campaign warns of consequences after railway crime causes nearly 100 days of delays
Trespass, vandalism and cable theft caused more than 2,347 hours of delays – equivalent to 98 days – on Network Rail’s North & East route in 2025/26, new figures show.
Network Rail announces major accessibility upgrade for Kings Langley station
Passengers at Kings Langley station are set to benefit from significantly improved accessibility as Network Rail prepares to deliver a major station upgrade funded through the Department for Transport's Access for All programme.
Rail industry crackdown as trespassing criminals cause more than 1,000 hours of delays for Wales and Borders passengers in one year
New data reveals trespass including incidents of cable theft, vandalism and obstruction severely impacted passenger journeys and contributed £2.5 million in delay costs to the industry in 2025/26.