Monday 16 Nov 2009
UNLUCKY FOR SOME AS THIEVES STEAL RAIL CABLE
- Region & Route:
Friday the 13th proved an unlucky day for rail passengers in the Manchester and Stockport areas after 120 metres of signalling cable was stolen from the trackside at Heaton Chapel.
The theft came to light just before 6 pm when signallers working at Manchester Piccadilly noticed several failures of equipment between Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme.
Network Rail staff started examining the line and soon discovered that 12 sections of cable, each about 10 metres long, had been stolen, leading to a number of signals in the area reverting to red.
Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s route director, said: “The thefts happened under cover of darkness at the tail end of the evening rush hour, causing considerable inconvenience for people going home from work and those trying to get away for the weekend.
“We got train services on the move again as soon as we could by putting hand signallers at the affected signals, reducing the train service to manageable levels and diverting some trains away from the area.”
Train services returned to normal in the early hours of Saturday morning after the cable was repaired around midnight, once the majority of services had finished for the day.
In total, 24 trains were cancelled and a further 170 were delayed.
A reward of up to £1,000 is available for information leading to a successful prosecution. Anyone with information on cable thefts can report it in confidence to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Notes to editors
Network Rail employs a number of measures to combat cable theft:-
- In the greater Manchester area a security firm is used to patrol known cable theft hotspots
- CCTV cameras are being used in problem areas
- Fibre optic cable is being used in preference to copper cable
- Trembler devices have been installed that trigger alarms when cable is disturbed
- Where practical, cable is being buried underground. Where this is not possible, surface cable is being made more secure.
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 - North West & Central Region
07740 782954
NWCmediarelations@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