Misery on trains over metal thefts toll
Metal thieves have caused delays of a total of two-and-a-half months on trains in the West Midlands in the past three years.
Network Rail figures show the crooks struck 98 times in the region between April 2010 and August this year.
It sparked 1,766 hours of delays and cost the firm more than £2,700,000 in compensation. A total of 304 trains were cancelled completely and 354 disrupted. Jane Richardson, Network Rail's general manager for the West Midlands & Chilterns, said: "Cable theft is a major issue.
"It causes delays to passengers and costs the industry millions of pounds every year.
"Thankfully the action the rail industry is taking is having an effect, and the total number of incidents across the country has been cut, but there are ultimately costs to the taxpayer and passengers when incidents occur."
Major cases of rail theft in the region this year have included two 500ft lengths of cable containing copper that were stolen from Dudley Port station in October.
This alone led to delays totalling 100 hours, with 13 trains cancelled and 87 disrupted. Services destined for Tipton were diverted via Bescot while others terminated at Wolverhampton.
Meanwhile, 525ft of cable was taken from track between Wolverhampton and Stafford in September, prompting Network Rail to offer a £1,000 reward.
Across the country there were 2,038 cases of metal theft in total, including 198 so far this year.
The total amount Network Rail has paid out in compensation to operators between April 2010 and August this year is more than £28m.
This does not include the bill for labour and materials in repairing the damage.
