Ministers welcome dramatic drop in railway cable theft
Network Rail figures reveal 3 year low in metal theft following a clampdown
Severed cable at Millbrook shows the lengths theives will go to
Cable theft on Britain’s railways has more than halved thanks to a co-ordinated clampdown on metal theft.
New Network Rail figures show a 67% drop in the total number of cable thefts over the past year.
There has also been a 54% reduction in disruption to passenger journeys – which equates to just over 3,000 fewer hours in delays this year compared to the previous year.
Government action
The three year low in the number of cable thefts comes after the government introduced tighter measures to thwart metal thieves including introducing a Metal Theft Taskforce (led by British Transport Police) and giving police new powers of entry to metal yards.
Crime Prevention Minister Jeremy Browne said:
The dramatic decrease in stolen railway cables shows the new metal theft laws we have put in place are starting to take effect.
These promising figures highlight how important it is for industry and government to work together to combat a crime which at its peak cost the taxpayer around £220 million a year.
Our strict new rules ban metal dealers from trading in cash, raise the financial penalty for rogue traders and grant police new powers of entry to metal yards.
Railway workers fix severed cables
Scrap Metal Dealers Act
The Scrap Metal Dealers Act will also take effect later this year and will allow local authorities to revoke metal trader licenses where they suspect unlawful activity.