Media centre

Tuesday 27 Jun 2017

Passengers travelling between South Wales and North Wales are advised to check before travelling following cable theft

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Network Rail is advising passengers of disruption to services between Abergavenny and Cwmbran after crucial signalling cables were stolen on Sunday night.

Engineers have been working day and night on the complex task of replacing the stolen cable in the Little Mill area.

Emergency signalling arrangements will be in place until work is completed, which is expected to be on Thursday morning.

Andy Thomas, route managing director for Network Rail Wales, said: “Cable theft is not a victimless crime – far from it. Train delays and cancellations directly affect people going about their daily lives, such as getting to and from work, visiting family and travelling to hospital appointments.

“We are working with Arriva Trains Wales and other partners to minimise disruption to passengers following the theft of signalling cable between Abergavenny and Cwmbran.

“Trespassing on the railway is extremely dangerous and cable thieves risk serious injury or death. We want everyone home safe every day and we continually look for ways to protect the network from thieves, working with British Transport Police to prosecute anyone caught carrying out metal thefts.”

Detective Inspector Jaci Thomas from British Transport Police (BTP) said: “Offences linked to theft of metal on the railway can attract a penalty of up to life imprisonment; therefore the seriousness of incidents such as this cannot be overstated.

“Patrols are being conducted and specialist cable theft officers are carrying out enquiries in the area to find those responsible for the theft, which has resulted in ongoing delays, disruption and inconvenience to passengers and the rail industry, while we continue to work closely with scrap metal dealers to identify those that deal in stolen metal.

“I would like to appeal to anyone who may have information that could help us with our enquiries to please get in touch either by text on 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting incident reference 615 of 25/06/2017.”

An Arriva Trains Wales spokesperson said: “The theft of signalling cables has caused ongoing disruption to services between north and south Wales and as such we urge customers to check their journey before travelling. We are working closely with our partners in Network Rail to minimise the impact this has on passengers.”

Cable theft costs the railway millions of pounds each year. The total cost to the economy – taking into account the impact of freight delays to power stations and supermarkets, and on passengers who miss appointments or have their day ruined – is even higher.

Britain's rail network is designed to fail safe, which means that when a cable is cut trains are brought to a standstill. This protects passengers, but can lead to lengthy, frustrating delays while the problem is found and fixed safely.

Members of the public can report suspicious behaviour on the tracks to the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40.

Network Rail has done a huge amount of work to tackle cable theft including:

• Funding British Transport Police officers
• Using CCTV to alert us that people are on the network and to support the police
• Installing new ways of securing cables
• Using forensic marking agents
• Introducing cables which are harder to steal and easier to identify
• Setting up dedicated a security team