Police hunt rail cable thieves as £90k copper stolen
Police are working 'round the clock' to hunt for thieves who have stolen more than £90,000 of copper cable from rail lines across Staffordshire over the last six weeks.
The cost of replacing the cable on the West Coast main line from Stafford, currently stands at around £300,000 of taxpayers money.
Around 3,650 metres of copper cable have been removed, with transport bosses saying the criminals are causing delays for commuters during the holiday season.
Karl Weller, Network Rail section manager based at Stafford, said: “When signalling cables are removed the signalling and telecommunication systems of the railway do not work and trains can’t run.
"The impact on customers will get worse if these thieves are not caught."
Chief Inspector Andrea Graham of British Transport Police said: “We are doing everything in our power to track down these criminals who are causing the travelling public delays during the busy holiday season.
“Not only is this kind of crime disruptive it is extremely dangerous for those responsible.
"Thousands of volts of electricity run through those cables and interfering with them can be fatal.
“Officers are working round the clock to investigate all avenue of enquiry to identify those responsible.”
Anyone with information can call the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016.
