Transport Tycoon Forums

THE menace of railway cable thieves has reached new heights, according to figures published by British Transport Police.

Although general levels of crime on the railways have continued to fall, the force says that cable theft has risen by 70 per cent.

The BTP reported that crime on the railways fell by 2.9 per cent in 2010/11, the seventh successive annual decrease.

The figures include a 2.8 per cent fall in violent crime and a 1.6 per cent reduction in robberies.

Cable thefts are soaring, however, because 'economics are having their effect', according to BTP chief constable Andy Trotter. There were 2,712 cable thefts in 2010/11, compared to 1,593 in 2009/10.

Mr Trotter said that in "difficult economic times acquisitive crime is likely to increase, and these figures show that".

He added: "Cable theft is a real challenge for us, the rail industry and other utilities. The record price of metals on world markets has made this type of crime seem increasingly attractive, although the actual returns to the thieves are pretty modest.

“Metal theft causes significant disruption to rail services and that means real consequences for real people - missed business meetings, family celebrations and appointments, for instance. And that’s not to mention the huge financial costs to the rail industry and the dangers to the thieves themselves.

“We have increased the resources we are devoting to this issue and are working closely with Network Rail to find more effective ways of reversing this trend.”

But the incidence of disruption caused by cable thefts is rising. First Great Western has apologised for disruption on its network last week, and named cable theft as one of the reasons. FGW managing director Mark Hopwood said: "A number of unrelated infrastructure failures, a trackside cable theft, vandalism and a suicide resulted in our train service being significantly disrupted."

Network Rail's budgets are also being hit by the problem. Cable theft has cost the company some £43 million over the past three years – it has to pay for the repairs and also compensate train operators for disruption.

Dyan Crowther, who is Network Rail's director of operational services, said: “These criminal acts have to stop. Every day passengers and essential freight deliveries upon which our economy relies are being delayed by thieves looking to make a quick buck at our expense.

“I cannot over-emphasise just how serious these crimes are. Cable thieves deny passengers the service they rightly expect and, through the massive cost to the industry, deny everyone improvements to rail services."

Or you could move a lot of the data needed for the signalling via optic cables instead of copper ones. I believe the dutch railways are doing this on specific high theft risk locations. Then you only have the power cables left.

The Brits wouldn't do that as it would cost too much..... the usual

Make the Cables out of Un-Slicable Material, or have some sort of auto sentry robot that fires stun guns at thieves?

Not that it would make logistical sense to cover the country in so called auto sentry robots..
Covering cables in such a material might prove worthwhile, for example Kevlar, but probably not really worth the additional expense.

Make the Cables out of Un-Slicable Material, or have some sort of auto sentry robot that fires stun guns at thieves?

Or sensible suggestions...

Hook the copper signalling cables up to the Overhead or 3rd rail lines. Problem (almost) solved.

What exactly are the copper components in signalling wire? Been wondering a bit recently since it seems pretty easy to obtain.

Hook the copper signalling cables up to the Overhead or 3rd rail lines. Problem (almost) solved.

What exactly are the copper components in signalling wire? Been wondering a bit recently since it seems pretty easy to obtain.

Is the Overhead idea for shocking the thieves or just putiing it out of reach and the Copper in sugnalling powers the actualy signal a number of times, plus, your overhead idea only works where there is overhead power, in the south its 3rd rail

I was thinking that, run the signal cables underneath the track and it's a lot harder to steal... or run it right next to the third rail/catenary where available, but of course we wouldn't be allowed to electrocute the thieves: Health and Safety etc.

I was thinking that, run the signal cables underneath the track and it's a lot harder to steal... or run it right next to the third rail/catenary where available, but of course we wouldn't be allowed to electrocute the thieves: Health and Safety etc.