Cable Theft

[DaveNewcastle]

I have often wondered how many cable thieves are ex P-Way blokes using a bit of inside knowledge.

Who knows?
But your post has led me to wonder, why its thought that they might be ex- P-Way staff, without having some other work to keep them fully occupied and remunerated? How could that arise?
Surely there has never been any disagreements between that happy and enthusiastic employer, Network Rail, and its equally happy and equally enthusiastic employees and contractors?
Surely?

And even if there have been, in this culture of company cohesion, consideration of staff as a Company's greatest assets, celebration of commitment, dedication and performance by the whole team, then I'm astonished and am sure there must be a perfectly adequate explanation for the disappearance of some old bits of wire just lying around under the buddleia.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I was being polite I guess. I think most of us here know that an orange HV bib will get you into lots of places without question and the railway is so big that often if you look like you should be somewhere then there is a very good chance nobody will bother you.

There must be plenty of people who work on the railway who take stuff that doesnt belong to them, just like there are plenty of people in other walks of life whether its somebody in an office nicking a stapler or somebody in a distribution warehouse swiping whatever electrical goods they have in that day. Cable theft does require a bit more know how than sticking an iPod in your pocket so I would assume plenty of people who steal it are currently or have been employees of the railway, especially on the P-Way side.

 

[ChrisCooper]

I'm sure I saw something from an insurance company once that suggested that a reasonable proportion of theft from businesses (and this was talking about proper theft, not just taking the odd consumable) was from current or former employees, or those related to them (due to loose talk). It's not only the knowledge and ability to do it, but also that any forensic evidance found would likely be discounted as long as it is found in a place where they are authorised to be. I know when my work got broken into we were all fingerprinted so they could discount any of our prints that were found. A few people did mention that it might have been an inside job.
Taking into account theft of consumables too I imagine it's quite high. Then again it was always something that companies turned a blind eye to, being known as perquisites or perks. Even the military allowed it to an extent, especially for warrent officers. The problem is these days everything is about money, so it's lead to both people taking advantage, and also companies cracking down. The compensation culture also plays it's part as if the company gives something away then they are still liable for it as much as if they had sold it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Another case of this in the Darwen area caused delays on the Bolton to Blackburn line on Friday.