Posted 26th July 2012 | 2 Comments

Cable thieves disrupt Thameslink

FIRST CAPITAL CONNECT services between Bedford and Brighton were badly disrupted early this morning, after cable thieves struck near Flitwick. FCC said the signalling had been 'knocked out' as a result, trapping more than 20 trains in sidings at Bedford.

Trains are running hours late in some cases, and the disruption has now extended all the way to Brighton. Replacement buses are running between Bedford and Luton, but FCC said arranging this service had been difficult because many bus and coach operators had already committed their vehicles to Olympics transport.

A limited FCC service is running south of Flitwick, and northbound East Midlands Trains services are still able to call at Bedford.

FCC said Network Rail was working to repair the damage as quickly as possible, and advised passengers to check its website for the latest news.

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Garth Ponsonby, Chippenham

    I suspect that raising them so close to the OHLE might result in unacceptably high induced stray currents in the signalling cables, thereby causing safety problems. Anyway, the newer cable troughing systems are supposed to be much more secure.

  • Claydon William, Norwich, Norfolk

    I am not an engineer, but i do not understand why cable theft remains a problem on rail sections with overhead electrification systems like 'Thameslink'.

    Why isn't the cabling lifted off ground level, and attached to the catenary masts way above head height ?

    That should stop these slefish thieving b*****ds.