A new weapon is being used by Network Rail to protect essential
rail equipment in Wakefield from thieves who are targeting it for
its scrap value.
Thieves continue to target the cables using to signal trains in
West Yorkshire, despite extra police patrols, use of CCTV and other
protective measures.
In the past 12 months, the routes around Wakefield have seen 20
thefts which delayed passengers and cost around £400,000 in
compensation costs alone. On 5 August a theft at Wrenthorpe caused
eight trains to be cancelled and a further 108 to suffer delays
after just 55metres of cable was stolen.
Now a unique Forensic Taggent from Staffordshire based RedWeb
Technologies, is being applied to the cables to help police catch
the thieves, by providing the all important link between the
criminal and the crime scene
Richard Lungmuss, route director for Network Rail said: "Cable
theft continues to cause massive disruption to passengers and
freight services. This is not acceptable. Britain relies on rail
and the disruption and delay has a significant effect on people's
lives - through being late for work, missing appointments or simply
ruining a day out during the summer holidays.
"We are doing all we can to protect the network, including
successful use of CCTV, extra dedicated police patrols and using
various methods to make cables harder to steal. The use of the Red
Web marker is another weapon against these thieves who are bringing
misery to so many people."
Detective Inspector Mick Jackson, of British Transport Polices
dedicated cable team, Operation Leopard, said, "Using Red Web on
the rail network will assist us in identifying those responsible
for stealing cable.
"Technological and forensic advances such as Red Web, are making
life more and more difficult for thieves, and are increasing the
opportunities for us to detect criminals.
"British Transport Police will continue to work hard to catch
offenders in an effort to stamp out this problem. We will also
continue to seek methods of detecting and preventing cable theft,
and will endeavour to secure prosecutions on every occasion."