Metro director warns of danger to life after reported cable theft brings service to a standstill
Services were suspended for around three hours, but are now back up and running
Nexus chiefs have warned would-be thieves about the dangers of tampering with overhead cables and threatened any perpetrators with prosecution and potential prison.
The warning comes after Nexus’s Metro train service in Sunderland was suspended for several hours this morning following a reported cable theft.
Nexus chiefs have also confirmed that repairs are now complete and services are back up and running.
Stuart Clarke, Infrastructure Director at Nexus, said: “Metro services have resumed between Monument and South Shields and Monument and South Hylton following an earlier incident of cable theft.
“The theft occurred in the Felling area in the early hours of this morning, Thursday 18 June.
“Our engineers attended the site and have replaced the cables, which supply power to Metro’s signalling equipment,
“The offence has been reported to Northumbria Police.
“Cable theft causes disruption for the travelling public. It is dangerous to tamper with trackside equipment, which has high voltage power running through it, and the thieves risk their lives by doing this.
“Anyone who gets caught stealing from rail networks faces prosecution and a possible prison sentence.”