Media centre

Thursday 27 Feb 2014

Trespassers and vandals warned of risk to lives following recent incidents in the West Midlands

Region & Route:

Trespassers and vandals who access and damage the railway are putting their lives at risk and causing delays and disruption to passengers, Network Rail has warned.

There have been four incidents of trespass, vandalism and suspected cable theft on the railway in the Walsall area in the last two weeks, causing delays to thousands of passengers.

The latest incident occurred last night (26 February) when cables were damaged, disrupting services throughout the night and into the morning peak.

Liam Sumpter, area director for Network Rail, said: “Trespass, vandalism and metal theft on the railway not only causes huge amounts of disruption to passengers but also pose a significant risk to the lives of those committing the crimes. Trains are fast, quiet and cannot stop quickly, even if trespassers are spotted well in advance by a driver. Combined with 25,000v of electricity flowing through overhead lines where the railway is electrified, it is a dangerous place for anyone who is not supposed to be there.

“We have seen four incidents of trespass, vandalism and suspected cable theft in two weeks in the Walsall area and are offering a £1,000 reward to anyone who provides information which leads to a successful prosecution of those responsible.

“We apologise for the disruption these recent incidents have caused. We can assure passengers that we do all we can to reduce these types of incident and carry out repairs as quickly as possible when they do. I would urge anyone who may have any information about any railway related crime to contact the British Transport Police.”

Thanks to sustained campaigning and action by Network Rail and other industries affected by metal theft, last year’s change in the law means anyone selling scrap metal has to provide identification and cash transactions are illegal. This makes it increasingly difficult to dispose of stolen metal and has had a positive impact on the number of incidents, reducing the amount delays that passengers have to endure as a result

Network Rail continues to work with suppliers and other industries to make metal – particularly cables – harder to steal and easier to identify. In and around Walsall, extra patrols have been put in place and covert surveillance is being used to deter future incidents.

Network Rail has an ongoing campaign to educate people about the dangers of trespassing on the railway. Most recently, UK rapper Wretch 32 and spoken word performer George the Poet put their hearing to the test in a unique experiment aimed at young men. For more information visit www.youtube.com/user/networkrail/TrackTest.

Anyone with information about any railway related crime should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.