Thieves who stole signalling cable caused major disruption to trains in the Leeds area on Sunday morning 2nd October. The theft which took place in the Micklefield area meant that no trains departed from Leeds until around 10 am. This included the 09.00 Leeds-Settle-Carlisle service which was delayed by over an hour.
As a result the planned FoSCL guided walk in Swaledale was severely disrupted as the knock-on effect caused delays to the connecting Ribblehead-Hawes-Richmond bus. Apologies to anyone who had to abandon their plans to join this walk.
Approximately 20% of delays to Northern's services are now caused by signalling cable theft. The Government is being encouraged to support a European plan to make cash sales of scap metal illegal. A Government e-petition is available to sign here. If 100,000 signatures are reached, Parliament is obliged to debate the matter.
Northern are fully supportive of this initiative and believe that stronger controls on the sale of scrap metal will significantly reduce the theft of railway cabling.