Thefts spell woe for rail travellers

10:10am Wednesday 27th August 2008

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COMMUTERS were left seething with frustration after thieves stole vital cables from a railway line between York and Leeds – causing a string of services to be cancelled.

The theft near Garforth Station meant Northern Rail, which operates trains between the two cities, had to abandon or cut short 12 of its services yesterday morning, causing headaches for hundreds of passengers as they tried to get to work.

It comes just weeks after British Transport Police (BTP) and Network Rail stepped up security in the wake of two separate sections of rail signal-controlling cables – which can fetch high prices on the black market for scrap metal – being stolen.

That theft led to trains through York being cancelled or delayed.

Northern Rail services on the route hit by the cable thieves yesterday were expected to be back to normal today.

But the company has condemned the thieves.

Clare Conlin, Northern Rail spokeswoman, said: “Cable theft is an extremely dangerous crime and is one of the single biggest causes of delays to our services, resulting in disruption and inconvenience to thousands of customers.

“We continue to work with British Transport Police and our industry partners to combat cable theft on the network.

“Thanks to the extra vigilance of train crew, BTP ‘Q’ trains – which run without passengers but with officers on board and which can stop whenever they see somebody acting unlawfully – signallers, maintenance operations managers and Network Rail trackside staff, numerous cable thefts have been avoided and arrests made.”

Student Jessica Bennett, 21, was one of the hundreds of passengers affected as she travelled from her home in Leeds to a work experience placement in York yesterday morning.

“I got on the train at Leeds at 7.40am nice and early – or not, as it turned out,” she said.

“The train came to a halt at Garforth and I was left guessing what the delay might have been caused by.

“Everybody tried to listen to their radios and find out why they might be late for work.

“We were told later that we were held up because some wiring had been stolen from the tracks and they were waiting for technicians to sort out the problem.

“Thieves have been stealing wires and the like for years – with the rising price of metal, it’s lucrative for criminals.

“They seem to be going to all sorts of lengths to make a bit of money, not caring if they make hundreds of people late for work.”

Last year, cable thieves cost Network Rail £10 million in the East Coast area alone through delays and having to foot the bill to replace stolen wiring, and Yorkshire and the north-east have been marked out as hotspots for this type of crime.

Anybody who has any information about yesterday’s theft or any other incidents of rail cables being stolen should phone British Transport Police, on Freefone 0800 405040.