Cable thieves are ruining the lives of millions of passengers and costing the railway industry some £15 million a year as they target the railway for metal to sell as scrap.

Criminals are targeting the cables which control vital rail infrastructure such as signals and points, causing delays to tens of thousands of trains and millions of people.

Figures released by Network Rail reveal a £43m cost to this crime-spree over the past three years, resulting in over 16,000 hours of delay.

Dyan Crowther, Director, Operational Services at Network Rail, 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.

"We are doing everything we can to protect the railway and will continue to work closely with British Transport Police and other rail partners to do everything in our power to deter thieves and bring those who attack our network to justice."

Gary Cooper, Head of operations at the Association of Train Operating Companies, added: "Train companies want to do all they possibly can to reduce the number of cancellations and delays caused by cable theft, which regularly leads to considerable disruption for many of their passengers.

"Operators and the industry as a whole are determined to crack down on the thieves, whose actions lead to extra work for staff and cost of millions of pounds, money which could otherwise be invested in improving services for passengers. The thieves are also putting themselves at risk of serious injury."

(CD)