Cable / copper / metal theft - ongoing problems on the railways and elsewhere

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

11-09-2018 JourneyCheck reporting attempted cable theft between Bradford-on-Avon and Westbury.

[bobm]

Was first discovered yesterday morning but not identified as attempted cable theft until later in the day.

Has affected Greenland Mill level crossing near Bradford-on-Avon station.

[WelshBluebird]

Was first discovered yesterday morning but not identified as attempted cable theft until later in the day.

Has affected Greenland Mill level crossing near Bradford-on-Avon station.

Explains why it was being announced as problem with a crossing throughout the day then!

[grahame]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

The length of time passengers are being delayed on Great Britain's railways because of cable thefts has reached a five-year high, new figures suggest.

The BBC's 5 Live Investigates found there were nearly 950 hours of delays in 2018 across more than 7,000 journeys in England, Wales and Scotland.

British Transport Police figures also show an 85% increase in live cable thefts last year.

[Electric train]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

The length of time passengers are being delayed on Great Britain's railways because of cable thefts has reached a five-year high, new figures suggest.

The BBC's 5 Live Investigates found there were nearly 950 hours of delays in 2018 across more than 7,000 journeys in England, Wales and Scotland.

British Transport Police figures also show an 85% increase in live cable thefts last year.

In addition to the visible cost of delays to passengers and the obvious associated costs to repair the damage caused; there are the costs of network security some hot spots have 24 / 7 security presence ie security staff present all day every day, the installation of overt and covert CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) and alarm systems etc these all add costs to the travelling public.

The Courts do not always take the full victim costs into account when passing sentence.  The levels of damage caused to railway systems often runs into tens of thousands of pounds for a scrap value of tens of pounds

[broadgage]

I agree that cable theft from railways or elsewhere is not taken seriously enough.
Penalties should reflect not the scrap value of the material stolen, but the full costs of rectifying the damage.

A hardening of public and official attitudes would also help.
A bit less of "oh those poor kids" and a bit more "HA^▸ (Highways Agency) HA they wont do that again" when a thief is killed.

I do of course sympathise with railway staff and emergency services workers who are faced with most unpleasant scenes. But for the thieves them selves I have no sympathy whatsoever.