We'll halt villains in their tracks; Chiefs' warning to metal thieves who disrupt Metro

Byline: KIM CARMICHAEL

METRO bosses have waged war on metal thieves who bring the system to a standstill.

Thousands of passengers faced disruption over the weekend after cable crooks struck three days in a row. But now a warning has been sent to those who wreak havoc on our journeys.

The system was first targeted on Saturday afternoon at East Boldon, in South Tyneside. Trains were cancelled between East Boldon and the Stadium of Light from 2.30pm until 6pm due to missing cable.

On Sunday, 100m of cable was taken from Percy Main, in North Tyneside.

Yesterday morning saw rush-hour commuters making the journey between North Shields and Byker by bus after 30m of cable was stolen from Wallsend, affecting trains until 10am.

But now Metro bosses have reassured passengers that they are determined to stamp out the crime. Ken Mackay, director of rail and infrastructure for Nexus, said: "The theft of metal is a problem for the whole community, and there are few people it has not affected in some way over the last few years.

"On Metro it is particularly noticeable because it can bring sections of the system to a halt while power supplies and signal systems are repaired.

"Thieves often do a lot of damage trying to rip cables out, and this then means it takes a lot longer to get things back to normal.

"We work closely with the police and Network Rail to look at ways to reduce the impact on services and on local people. This has paid off with a number of cases in which cable thieves have been caught in the act and received significant prison sentences."

In March this year three men caught while stealing cable near Shiremoor were jailed for 40 weeks each.

A Nexus spokesman confirmed the operator was working on solutions which would allow trains to safely travel through areas where cable had been stolen from signaling equipment.

Smart water security has been applied to cabling equipment throughout the Metro network and Nexus staff are touring scrap dealers with Northumbria Police in an attempt to trace thieves.

CAPTION(S):

CRACKDOWN Police officers are on the look out for metal thieves