Cable theft becoming a more common occurrence

[Taunton]

Power supply cables are normally, by their nature, self-guarding. However I believe the onetime tradition of switching off on Christmas Day, coming in part from when substations had to be manned, was given up when it started to be found what had disappeared on Boxing Day.

I understand the more recent DLR extension from Canning Town to Stratford had its opening significantly delayed, because its power supply cables were stolen TWICE between installation and switching on. Taken once, replaced, taken again. Do I then recall a significant liability case then arose between the railway, the contractors, and their insurers.

 

[Bald Rick]

I believe there have also been a few over the years who have paid the ultimate price by getting themselves juiced!

Indeed. And also a few who have been carted off to hospital in great pain.

 

[Parham Wood]

I recall once we had repeated theft problems around 1980 in the St Helens area or thereabouts. The cable was buried but the terrain was soft sand so easy to pull out. The railway police sent two constables to watch over the area in question once the cable was renewed. They sat in their car whilst the thieves pulled the cable out from the other end! We were not happy!

 

[MCSHF007]

Indeed. And also a few who have been carted off to hospital in great pain.

Sincerely hope the NHS didn't prioritise the thieving low-life scrotes.

 

[HSTEd]

Beyond the aforementioned cable rationalisation through ETCS et al, we could always start converting cuttings into green tunnels or building hoods over railways to restrict access to well defined access points....

Might be a bit expensive though

 

[Bald Rick]

Sincerely hope the NHS didn't prioritise the thieving low-life scrotes.

I‘m aware of one who was taken by ambulance (called by his accomplice, no less) to three different A&E departments before there was one with capacity for him. At least that’s what the copper who nicked him told me, although I suspect there maybe some artistic licence on the story!

 

[O L Leigh]

I think maybe the OP is simply more aware of a problem that’s currently affecting his area, as it’s far from a new phenomenon. The WA routes were heavily targeted about 12 years back when the return conductor wires were pulled down and cut on an almost nightly basis. That it’s a noticeably worse problem on the MML does not necessarily mean that there’s a worsening issue generally or that it’s being reflected elsewhere on the network.

 

[Bald Rick]

The WA routes were heavily targeted about 12 years back when the return conductor wires were pulled down and cut on an almost nightly basis.

Yep, we got them in the end. Same people on the LTS.

 

[O L Leigh]

Yep, we got them in the end. Same people on the LTS.

Splendid!!

 

[Bald Rick]

Splendid!!

The lynchpin (not the ringleader as such, but the person who was most involved) was a nasty piece of work. “No fixed abode”. Took a lot of intelligence to get him when most compromised.

 

[O L Leigh]

The lynchpin (not the ringleader as such, but the person who was most involved) was a nasty piece of work. “No fixed abode”. Took a lot of intelligence to get him when most compromised.

Sadly that doesn’t undermine the stereotyped offender that we’d imagined sitting in our messrooms.

Obviously I wasn’t aware of all the details, but I do recall that it took a very large concerted effort. There were even Q trains driven by WA’s own Scarlet Pimpernel.

 

[father_jack]

Empty train has struck yet to be commissioned overhead cable in the process of being stolen last night between Llandaf and Cathays north of Cardiff. Valley lines and west of Cardiff practically a write off today between this, flooding at Lisvane and Thornhill, at Eastbrook on the Barry line, Llanharan to the west and just throw in planned engineering works to Merthyr/Treherbert.

 

[yorksrob]

There should be a crime of sabotaging the national infrastructure which should carry far harsher punishments than theft. Cable theft should fall under that.

 

[apinnard]

Yep, we got them in the end. Same people on the LTS.

The “ring leader” whilst relatively young, has since passed away.

 

[Signal Head]

I recall once we had repeated theft problems around 1980 in the St Helens area or thereabouts. The cable was buried but the terrain was soft sand so easy to pull out. The railway police sent two constables to watch over the area in question once the cable was renewed. They sat in their car whilst the thieves pulled the cable out from the other end! We were not happy!

During the 82 ASLEF strikes we were called out to a box with total block system failure on one side - suspected cable theft. Confirmed once on site, about 200 yds of 20pr missing (later found cut up and partially burnt off in the woods next to the boundary fence).

Cable replaced, everything back in order by lunchtime. The following morning, called out to the same location. Virtually the same length of cable gone again, one end cut about a foot from the submarine joint put on the previous day.

In the distance we could see the next colour light signal down the line. Cable repaired again, walking back to the box noticed we could no longer see the signal. At box signalman advised that while we'd been repairing the 20pr, they'd gone for the power cable half a mile away, blacking out the next box's Distant signal.

Next box was over the Divisional boundary, so it wasn't our problem.

 

[mrmartin]

I assume there are just a handful of gangs responsible for this type of theft? It's hardly the most simple of crimes! Probably one of those where you catch a handful of people and suddenly it stops. But I wouldn't put much confidence in BTP catching them!

 

[Sonik]

I assume there are just a handful of gangs responsible for this type of theft? It's hardly the most simple of crimes! Probably one of those where you catch a handful of people and suddenly it stops. But I wouldn't put much confidence in BTP catching them!

It seems it often is a relatively small number of individuals responsible, the trouble is you get the impression it's generally not very organised, more a mixture of loosely associated desperadoes and opportunism. So it's very difficult (i.e. resource intensive) for BTP to build an intelligence picture to get ahead of it. These are also not likely the kind of people who are afraid of getting caught.

You have to consider that if these people were a bit smarter/better organised they would likely be doing something more lucrative like stealing cars or dealing drugs.

 

[Bald Rick]

The BTP usually have a pretty good intelligence picture. However, it’s all very well knowing who is doing it, to secure a prosecution and conviction is another matter altogether.

The excuses that come out are fairly simple:

”I found the cable in a lay-by”
”I bought it scrap off a bloke I met down the pub” (at 4am?)
“I was rabbitting” (with bolt cutters?)

etc

 

[LondonExile]

The BTP usually have a pretty good intelligence picture. However, it’s all very well knowing who is doing it, to secure a prosecution and conviction is another matter altogether.

The excuses that come out are fairly simple:

”I found the cable in a lay-by”
”I bought it scrap off a bloke I met down the pub” (at 4am?)
“I was rabbitting” (with bolt cutters?)

etc

Would changing the law to make more specific (easier to prove) crimes help here?

e.g., making it a crime to possess cabling matching railway specification without a license. Is the cabling generic and legitimately used elsewhere? Could there be a change to spec (colour of insulation perhaps) to mark it as railway?

Two out of three of your excuses could be defeated if that was added to the statute books, and the third is already a good example of this kind of logic - the crime of "going equipped" is easier to prove than the crime of burglary.

 

[zwk500]

Would changing the law to make more specific (easier to prove) crimes help here?

e.g., making it a crime to possess cabling matching railway specification without a license. Is the cabling generic and legitimately used elsewhere? Could there be a change to spec (colour of insulation perhaps) to mark it as railway?

Two out of three of your excuses could be defeated if that was added to the statute books, and the third is already a good example of this kind of logic - the crime of "going equipped" is easier to prove than the crime of burglary.

Does handling stolen goods not cover these already?

 

[Hellzapoppin]

Modern NR cables are marked and I did hear of a case where cable was found in a scrap yard and was identified by the markings and a successful prosecution was carried out.
Even if they're not marked they are still identifiable.
Saying you found the cable in a lay-by and not reporting that find is classed as theft by finding so not a good excuse.

 

[MarkyT]

Is the cabling generic and legitimately used elsewhere? Could there be a change to spec (colour of insulation perhaps) to mark it as railway?

Signalling cable is usually fairly easy to identify. Power, Telecoms (often carrying signalling circuits) and fibre is often more generic and on cursory inspection might not have come from the Railway unless you have a means of comparing manufacturers' batch numbers against a database or something. There's so much existing stuff of varying specs up to 40 years old or more out there, so changing spec would have a maginal effect and probably make the cabling yet more expensive. LU signalling cables were supplied in a bright purple outer sheath for a while. I understand that was a proven measure to deter rats, the non-human kind, who have a habit of chewing through cables to the conductors and causing faults.

Modern NR cables are marked...

Does that apply to all types used on the trackside today?

 

[Hellzapoppin]

Yes they are. Not sure if any old mtce stock still exists which isn't marked though but generally yes.

 

[MadMac]

I believe there have also been a few over the years who have paid the ultimate price by getting themselves juiced!

I’m aware of one instance in the Baillieston area where the individual responsible was still smouldering with hacksaw in hand. In the same general vicinity, an “encampment“ had actually trained one of their dogs to dig for buried cable. I admit to a certain admiration for their initiative…..

 

[Annetts key]

Signalling cable is usually fairly easy to identify. Power, Telecoms (often carrying signalling circuits) and fibre is often more generic and on cursory inspection might not have come from the Railway unless you have a means of comparing manufacturers' batch numbers against a database or something.

Some 1960s and 1970s cables actually had an information strip in the middle, but that only applied for a while. Unfortunately, anything not required in the railways specifications got dropped to save money.

The modern fibre cables have been marked for a fair number of years now. And now it’s in the Network Rail specifications that signalling and telecommunications cables (including fibre optic cables) should be marked with “Network Rail” and the reference to the Network Rail standard that they were manufactured to comply with. In addition, for new cables on new schemes, if there is a long run, often you find the cable unique identification name/number/code included in the marking at the time of manufacture.

This also applies to 650V AC, 110V AC and 110V/120V DC power cables used for signalling purposes. But I don’t know about other power cables.

Obviously there are a lot of older cables in use. Some date from the late 1950s.

 

[LondonExile]

Does handling stolen goods not cover these already?

There's still the defence of claiming you didn't believe them to be stolen.

That's appropriate for the general crime (otherwise every customer of CashConverters, eBay or Antiques shops would be risking prosecution), but a potential loophole here. I was more thinking along the lines of a strict prohibition without a license, akin to firearms and controlled drugs.

 

[zwk500]

There's still the defence of claiming you didn't believe them to be stolen.

That's appropriate for the general crime (otherwise every customer of CashConverters, eBay or Antiques shops would be risking prosecution), but a potential loophole here. I was more thinking along the lines of a strict prohibition without a license, akin to firearms and controlled drugs.

Is it worth it? A system like this will cost a lot to set up and enforce, in an industry already notoriously hard to regulate. Train delays are bad but they aren't the end of the world.