Network Rail has been left with a £10.1million bill from scrap metal thefts, which it admitted it will have to pass on to fare-paying passengers
LONDON, U.K. - 
Undercover police units are travelling on railways in the dead of night in an attempt to catch the surging number of scrap-metal thieves red-handed. The locomotives – dubbed ghost trains – travel with their lights dimmed and their engines muffled to allow specialist officers, equipped with infrared cameras, to catch unsuspecting criminals in the act.
Undercover police units are travelling on railways in the dead of night in an attempt to catch the surging number of scrap-metal thieves red-handed. The locomotives – dubbed ghost trains – travel with their lights dimmed and their engines muffled to allow specialist officers, equipped with infrared cameras, to catch unsuspecting criminals in the act.The tactic is aimed at countering the metal theft crimewave that has caused chaos for rail passengers. In the past seven months alone, 1,969 trains have been cancelled because of 675 copper cable thefts across the network.
Police figures show 14 times more copper-cable burglaries have been perpetrated in Britain this year compared with five years ago.
A Network Rail expert estimated the number of ‘ghost trains’ being operated on stretches of track most commonly targeted by thieves has quadrupled over the same period.
Despite power lines above the railways carrying 25,000 volts, criminals have been willing to risk their lives to seize the lucrative copper-lined cables.
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- This has left Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure, with a £10.1 million bill – which it admits will inevitably be passed on to fare-paying passengers.
- The ‘ghost trains’ are four carriages long and carry a team of four officers from British Transport Police and Network Rail.
- The ‘ghost trains’ are further aided by secret cameras, disguised as rocks or parts of the track, which have been discreetly installed across the rail network.
- These are triggered by motion-sensors and send live pictures back to a control centre where staff immediately inform the train driver of any intelligence.
Police figures show 14 times more copper-cable burglaries have been perpetrated in Britain this year compared with five years ago.A Network Rail expert estimated the number of ‘ghost trains’ being operated on stretches of track most commonly targeted by thieves has quadrupled over the same period.
Despite power lines above the railways carrying 25,000 volts, criminals have been willing to risk their lives to seize the lucrative copper-lined cables.
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