Media centre

Monday 15 Apr 2013

22% drop in rail delays caused by cable theft in the West

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

• Delay minutes down 22% on Network Rail’s Western route
• Number of cable theft incidents affecting rail services down 72%
• Network Rail and BTP will continue to work to reduce incidents further

Rail passengers in the west and south-west of England are reaping the benefits of years of work to tackle the issue of metal theft on the railway, the latest cable theft figures show.

Nationally, Network Rail has been working with partners in the railway and from other essential infrastructure industries to tackle this crime which, at its peak, caused more than 6,000 hours worth of delays to trains in a single year.

Along the Western route – which serves London, the Thames Valley and the Westcountry – efforts to tackle the issue of metal theft on the railway are succeeding. The number of train-affecting incidents fell by 72% from 25 in 2011/12 to seven in 2012/13.

Cable and metal theft incidents caused 234 hours of delays to trains across the region in 2011/12. As a result of the efforts to tackle these crimes, delays were down to 184 hours in 2012/13 – a drop of 22%. Compensation costs to train operators fell from £512,574 to £322,914 – a 37% reduction.

Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail Western route managing director, said: “These figures are great news for passengers and our freight customers. The improvements we have seen are down to a number of factors, including British Transport Police targeting thieves and the scrap dealers buying stolen metal.

"We’ve worked with suppliers and other industries to make metal – particularly our cables – harder to steal and easier to identify and had teams around the network looking at new ways of working to reduce delay and fix thefts more quickly. The introduction of new laws, following our work with other industries to explain the need for change to government, will make a real difference in stifling the market for stolen metal.

“I want to thank everyone who has been involved in securing this success, including members of the public who have reported suspicious behaviour to police. We are not complacent that this issue is solved and we will continue to work to further reduce cost and delay caused by thieves on our railway.”

Speaking about the figures released today, Detective Chief Inspector Gill Murray, of British Transport Police, said: “The significant reductions during the past 12 months are encouraging and are testament to the work done by police and partner agencies to increase the risk of detection and prosecution to offenders, whilst also reducing the potential rewards for their criminal behaviour.

“We cannot, however, take our eye off the ball and will continue to develop initiatives and tactics to make life even more challenging for thieves and unscrupulous metal recyclers.

“Tackling metal theft in an effective manner is now embedded across police forces and within several industries and, with new legislation due to come into force later this year, there can be no doubt that the UK remains committed to tackling a crime which strikes at the very heart of its infrastructure.”

It is hoped that the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, which was passed by Parliament earlier this year and is due to come into force in the autumn, will provide a further boost to the rail industry’s efforts to clamp down on cable thieves. The new law targets rogue scrap metal dealers who trade in stolen metal, bringing in mandatory licensing of scrap metal dealers and outlawing cash payments for metal.

Nationally, the number of train-affecting incidents dropped from 845 in 2011/12 to 285 in 2012/13. Delays to trains fell from 344,680 minutes to 160,260 minutes over the same period, and the cost fell from £12m to £5.8m.

Train-affecting incidents are down 67% year on year and delay caused to passengers and freight services has reduced by 54%. Accordingly compensation payments are also down and total cost to the industry is at a four-year low, reduced by more than £5m.