Commuters woke up to travel disruption on the Tyne and Wear Metro this morning after another overnight cable theft on the service.
No trains were running between Monkseaton and Wallsend in both directions due to a theft of 100 metres of cable between Meadow Well and North Shields in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It is the third time that a cable theft has occurred on the network this month, and though the Metro service resumed at 7.05am, the theft had a knock-on effect meaning there were still delays at 9am.
An attempted cable theft on December 31 saw service suspended for six hours between Four Lane Ends and South Gosforth. Thieves then stole 40 metres from the line near Meadow Well on January 5 causing disruption for six hours, and a further 50 metres from the line between Percy Main and Meadow Well again on January 6, with disruption for four hours.
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On January 6, Nexus announced that it was ramping up overnight security patrols and offering a £1,000 reward to crack down on cable theft. In each theft, thieves have cut through a power cable that supplies Metro signalling system, with engineers needing several hours to complete replacement work.
A Nexus spokesperson said: "Extra security measures are in place following cable theft from the Metro network in North Tyneside in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The thefts occurred between North Shields and Meadow Well and 100 metres of cable was taken.
"There is a £1,000 cash reward on offer for any information that leads to a conviction. Northumbria Police are putting extra patrols into the affected area.
"The damage that was caused to sensitive signalling equipment has been repaired by our engineers, but it has led to disruption for customers.
"It is dangerous to tamper with trackside equipment on the Metro system. These cables have high voltage power running through them. Thieves are risking their lives by cutting through these cables."
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "Shortly before 1am today (Tuesday) we received a report of a theft of cable from the Metro network between Meadow Well and North Shields. A full investigation has been launched into the incident.
"This type of offence is incredibly dangerous and the theft caused significant disruption. Officers are carrying out increased patrols alongside Nexus across the network and anybody found to be involved will be dealt with robustly.
"Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20230124-0030."
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