Attempted cable theft disrupts South Western train services

South Western Railway services were severely disrupted on March 21 by the attempted theft of signalling cable at Rowlands Castle, near Havant in Hampshire.

Network Rail said a combination of events caused the signalling system to self-test, identify a fault and shut down to prevent further damage from power surges.

It meant that all services in the Portsmouth area were cancelled through the morning peak, with knock-on effects continuing for the rest of the day.

Theft of copper cable has been a significant problem on the network, causing damage worth millions of pounds each year. However, improved prevention measures have greatly reduced the impact over the past decade.

The effect on SWR was compounded by a fault in the signal box at Woking, and by early morning signal failures at Clapham and Aldershot, meaning no services ran from Alton. A further signal failure at Staines meant all Windsor services were cancelled, with Reading trains diverted via Virginia Water.

SWR told passengers that disruption would be felt throughout its network, with cancellations, delays and revised travel patterns.

It is the latest in a succession of infrastructure-related disruption on services into Waterloo, which have continued since a major station upgrade last summer. SWR suffered a 7% fall in passenger satisfaction in the National Rail Passenger Survey published by Transport Focus in January. It was the biggest drop of any train operator.