£5,000 reward to catch rail vandals
Aug 7 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal
RAIL chiefs are offering a reward of up to £5,000 in a bid to catch vandals who chopped electric cables with an axe, disrupting hundreds of trains.
The cost to Network Rail, owners of Britain’s rail infrastructure, of compensating train operators for the delays is estimated at £135,000. And thousands of passengers were inconvenienced after services were stopped.
The vandals struck at Littleburn, Langley Moor, two miles south of Durham, on the East Coast Main Line, forcing 12 services to be cancelled, 35 more to be partially cancelled and a further 271 trains to be delayed.
Vital cables were cut 30 times early on Saturday, July 26, resulting in a total loss of signalling and stopping train movements. An axe was found nearby.
Warrick Dent, area general manager for Network Rail, said it took 20 specialist staff to repair the damage before services could start again.
He added: “The thoughtless and dangerous actions of these individuals have resulted in massive disruption for thousands of passengers travelling between England and Scotland on a very busy weekend and taken up limited railway resources.
“Not only was signalling cable cut, but also fibre optic and data cables.
“It took seven telecoms staff and 13 specialist signalling engineers many hours to restore systems.
“I am appealing directly to anyone who knows who committed this mindless act to come forward.
“Network Rail is willing to pay up to £5,000 for information which leads to an arrest and conviction.”
Detective Chief Inspector Danny Snee, of British Transport Police (BTP), said the vandals had risked their own lives as well as disrupting the trains.
He said: “Cable crime is extremely dangerous, and also costly to the rail industry.
“It can cause hours of delays to thousands of passengers who rely on the rail network.
“The destruction that is caused really is an attack on the community.
“Railway lines are operational 24 hours a day. Trespassing can prove fatal.
“Strong currents pass through the cables and can pass 650 volts through anyone who touches them.”
Anyone with information about this crime is urged to contact transport police on 0800 405040, quoting log reference 74 of 26/07/08.
