RAILWAY CABLE THIEVES IN THE TEES VALLEY ARE IN FOR A SHOCK - MEDIA INVITE: Car crushing

Thursday 20 Sep 2007

RAILWAY CABLE THIEVES IN THE TEES VALLEY ARE IN FOR A SHOCK - MEDIA INVITE

Region & Route:

Network Rail, in partnership with the charity Crimestoppers, is offering a reward of up to £1,000 to people who help to catch cable thieves who have been disrupting rail services in the Tees Valley.

Excluding the summer floods, the theft of cable which is used in railway signalling systems is the single biggest cause of delay to trains in the region and is costing the industry millions of pounds.

Network Rail has been working with British Transport Police (BTP) to prevent cable theft and to catch the thieves. Now they have teamed up with Crimestoppers to offer this reward.

Dyan Crowther, Route Director for Network Rail said: "We are doing everything we can to stop the cable thieves, including increasing dedicated security patrols and investigating the use of technology used by the security services to protect the cable. Now we are asking people who live in the areas which have been worst affected to help us to catch these thieves and to keep the railway running."

"I would ask anyone who sees people acting suspiciously near the tracks to report it immediately - and anonymously - to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

In addition to the media campaign, 4,000 leaflets and hundreds of posters highlighting the reward are being distributed in hot spot areas in the coming weeks.

Detective Chief Inspector Danny Snee of British Transport Police added: "After the threat of terrorism, the theft of cable is one of BTP’s biggest challenges. Those who steal cable are not just risking a prison sentence, they are risking their lives.

"This is an extremely dangerous crime which is an attack on the community; passengers are missing holiday flights, hospital appointments and business or social meetings due to the delays caused.

"BTP have dedicated cable squads that undertake regular operations including round the clock patrols targeted at hotspot crime areas in Wakefield / Tees Valley. Those involved can expect us to use every means to target them. We are working hard to catch and prosecute culprits in an attempt to eradicate this problem."

Steve Butcher, Area Director, Northern Rail said: “Cable theft is the single biggest cause of delay to our services in the North East at the moment resulting in disruption and inconvenience to thousands of customers. We welcome any information anyone can give to help catch the offenders and help eliminate this problem.”

Dave Cording, Crimestoppers’ Director of Operations said: “The theft of valuable metals is a big problem for a number of industries - including telecoms and the railway. We are delighted to be supporting Network Rail in this. Anyone who wants to give us information about who is committing these crimes can call us anonymously on 0800 555 111. Calls can not be traced and are not recorded; they will not have to give evidence in court. Your call could help save someone from death or serious injury and stop this reckless crime from spreading further.”

The reward will be launched at a media event on 20 September at Bowesfield signal box (directions below). Spokespeople from Network Rail and Northern Rail will be available for interview. Media will also be able to interview a BTP spokesperson and accompany officers as they carry out policing activities in the local area.

Notes to editors

Passengers are not put in danger by cable thieves. A failsafe system turns all signals to red as soon as a cable is cut. However the thefts do cause severe disruption and divert investment away from other parts of the railway. In 2006/07 cable theft directly caused more than 145 000 minutes of delay to trains in the North East area. The estimated cost to Network Rail of that crime was approximately £10 million - money which will have to be diverted from maintaining and improving the railway elsewhere. From 1 April to 18 Aug 2007 there have been 269 incidents on the London North Eastern route. That has resulted in 68,500 minutess delay. In the Tees Valley area there have been 69 incidents in the same period - causing 11, 069 minutes delay. The British Transport Police have recorded 1158 offences of cable theft since April 2006 in the North East area and have arrested more than 470 people. The reward is up to £1,000 for information which leads to the arrest AND conviction of a person or persons for the theft of copper cable from the rail network. This reward is only available for crimes committed within the WF/TS postcode and is offered up to 28 February 2008. Bowesfield signal box is on Bowesfield Lane, Stockton-on-Tees, postcode TS18 3RE. Travelling on the A66 eastbound, take the A135 turn off. The box is at the end of the track signed "works access" at the very start of the sliproad. NB If attending the briefing please wear sensible shoes or boots and NO red clothing.

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.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk