The great train track robbery of Penshaw - How a gang spent days stealing train tracks in broad daylight before they were caught

Sunderland’s mothballed Leamside Line is back in the headlines, with renewed calls for it to be reopened as part of the government’s
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Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson has launched a petition to bolster support for calls on the Government to reopen the line in full, easing pressure on the East Coast Mainline and clearing the way to bring the Metro to Washington.

But almost 20 years ago, the line was in the headlines for very different reasons – after more than two miles of track were stolen by thieves equipped with diggers, cutting tools and even jackets from a genuine engineering firm.

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In January 2003 – more than a decade after the line closed – workers wearing high vis jackets started to rip up the disused track.

The Leamside LineThe Leamside Line
The Leamside Line

The crew worked for six days without suspicion, before a genuine railway worker passed the area and realised the work had not been sanctioned and raised the alarm.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the crime was the brainchild of a man from the Midlands, who had even set up his own company to carry out the scam and make off with more than 300 tonnes of track over the course of six days.

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The court heard he had used knowledge of the railway industry gained while working for a genuine rail maintenance firm to pull off the sting.

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He hired heavy plant equipment and recruited a work gang from Sheffield to pull up the track and ship it back to South Yorkshire, where it was to be broken up for scrap.

And he even issued the workers with genuine jackets from his former employer to convince passing members of the public that the operation was legitimate.

Ironically, it was this attempt to divert suspicion that ultimately led to the crime being discovered, as the gang was spotted by a genuine worker from the firm who raised the alarm.

The mastermind was jailed for two years after admitting theft. A second man also pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

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Much of the stolen track was eventually recovered but had already been cut up and was no longer fit to be relaid.

It is estimated damage caused by the theft meant it could cost more than £800,000 to reopen the line.

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