MAKING LIFE DIFFICULT FOR THE CABLE THIEVES

Tuesday 28 Apr 2009

MAKING LIFE DIFFICULT FOR THE CABLE THIEVES

Region & Route:

Cable thieves are costing the railway £millions each year. In 2008/09 Network Rail recorded 747 incidents of cable theft which caused around 380,000 delay minutes and cost £7.8m in compensation costs alone.

One of the major issues with the thefts is that, once the cable is taken away from site, it is virtually impossible to prove that it was stolen from the railway. Now Network Rail has approved a new type of cable to be used - one that is harder to cut in the first place and - if it is stolen - is much easier to trace.

Richard Lungmuss, route director for the London North Eastern route, explains: “We wanted to find a way to make the cable traceable if stolen. Existing power cable is hard to identify particularly if stripped or burnt back to the copper cores. This makes it difficult for the British Transport Police (BTP) to arrest and prosecute people.

“We’ve made the new cable easily identifiable by giving it a distinctive colour unique to Network Rail. The outer sheath is embossed with our company name and the engineers’ line reference to show where it’s been installed. We've also added a tracer thread which means the cable can be identified as ours even if it is stripped back to the copper cores.”

About the new cable:

the inner and outer sheaths are flame retardant
a corrugated steel sheath protects against fire and water
the cable is easily identifiable to the BTP and scrap dealers
the cost increase of the cable is minimal despite the new features.

Notes to editors

The new cable is just one initiative among many being brought in by Network Rail, British Transport Police and the train operators as they seek to tackle the thieves. Others include: • A partnership between Network Rail and the charity, Crimestoppers, offering up to £1,000 for information leading to the conviction of cable thieves. • In house and external security experts patrolling known hot-spots and project sites which are known to be attractive targets for thieves • BTP targeted policing including intelligence-led operations, proactive patrols using dogs and off-road motorbikes and scrap yard visits. • Increased security at depots • "Target hardening" of cable routes • Use of the Network Rail helicopter to help deter and catch thieves

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -London North Eastern & East Midlands route
01904 383180
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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