CABLES
Lee Armson, London North Western route performance manager for Network Rail, has waged war on cable theft – and has managed to reverse the upward trend.
T
he rise in cable theft has been matched by a plethora of options available both
to deter cable thieves and convict those who succeed in their theft. While a combination of these techniques can provide the best defence against such incidents, the rate of cable theft on the railway is still rising in most areas.
But not in the West Midlands, where cable theft has fallen dramatically.
The number of cable theft incidents was 58 in 2010/11; in 2011/12 it was just 16. Delays in- curred by theft have been reduced from 58,233 minutes to 14,879 and the cost to the railway has been cut from £1,521,008 to £334,486.
RTM talked to Network Rail’s route perfor- mance manager Lee Armson to discover how such a significant reduction has been achieved.
Armson said: “Certainly the unique thing that we do on the London North Western route is that we contract with SmartWater – we use them as part of the strategy and their own strat- egy dovetails with ours.
“We wanted primarily to deter people who might consider cable theft on the network but then if they did, we wanted to catch them and to respond quickly to get train services running again. The forensic evidence allows us to prove the case when we catch people.”
Although other routes do use a similar coding system, the collaboration with SmartWater is only used on the London North Western route. This offers the opportunity to incorporate scrap yard visits and publicity drives into the strat- egy; the ‘deterrent factor’ helps people to un- derstand the consequences of the crime and the likelihood of being caught.
Fighting back
Armson suggests that while cable on the rail- way is not such an easy target as the media frenzy around cable theft may have implied, battling with the relentless criminal tide has had its effect on staff morale.
He said: “Maybe what we don’t push enough is that repeat cable thieves usually do get caught. It’s not such an easy picking ground that maybe people think it is. The British Transport Police track record of catching people and getting them into court is really quite good. We’re par- ticularly pleased with the SmartWater strategy
Armson explained: “The national strategy is to educate people not to come near the railway to try to steal cable, but then catch them if they do – we’ve just tried to reinforce that message.”
Signs of change of behaviour in scrap dealers are very positive, with many alerting Network Rail or the police to concerns about the origin of metal they are offered.
Once a theft has occurred, there are many ways the industry can react. Armson described the need for pulse echo equipment to narrow down the location of a fault: “Very often the cable
and have had some good success with that.
“It gives our people some sort of confidence that we’re able to fight back. It does feel at times that the network is under attack and we’re just trying to respond all the time to the next cri- sis. We really wanted something that felt a bit like fighting back and SmartWater is one of the things we use; it’s a weapon in the armoury.”
The unique forensic coating allows cables to be traced to exact locations and prove the theft of a particular length of cable conclusively in court.
Fast reactions
As well as this forensic coding system, the West Midlands special operations team works with the British Transport Police, to promote educa- tion about the dangers and costs of cable theft and to react to incidents quickly to minimise disruption.
theft or cut can occur in quite a long section so it can take some time to identify where the power has been lost; trying to trace where the cable has been stolen from can be a problem.”
Changing the law
The biggest drive against cable theft is in changing the law, something Network Rail is campaigning for nationally.
Armson said: “We believe it will only go away entirely when the lobbying for legislation change is taken on board. While criminals can go to a scrap yard and get a reasonable amount of money for cable, we’re always at risk.”
The key element of this law change would be enforcing payment through chip and pin and banning cash sales, a measure Home Secre- tary Theresa May has also endorsed – although some have warned it could push the crime further underground as unscrupulous dealers trade in metal on the black market.
But Armson said the rule change would mean those selling cable would have to give their bank de- tails, making it far easier for criminals to be traced, adding: “There’s no point in thieves stealing our ca- ble if they can’t sell it on.”
Visit
www.networkrail.co.uk/cabletheft/ Lee Armson
FOR MORE INFORMATION rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 12 | 79
© Network Rail
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92