Transnet fights large-scale cable theft

Transnet fights large-scale cable theft

Theft of infrastructure elements remains one of the main problems of the South African company Transnet. Between April 2019 and January 2020 the freight railway lost over 354 km of copper cable, resulting in an average of 21 trains being canceled per day. One of the organized criminal groups, which traded in wire scrap metal, was neutralized at the end of February this year. This was reported by the railway magazine Railway Supply with reference to the Transnet press release.

According to the company, 4 employees of the repair company were arrested on charges of stealing copper. Two of them were caught red-handed as they were on their way to a scrap metal recycling facility with a truckload of cables. Further investigation uncovered a cache of new and unused copper cables.

Transnet warns of criminal liability for theft of property and calls for reporting crimes to the hotline.

Last year, according to the company, over 5000 incidents were recorded, including cable theft, vandalism and deliberate damage to railway equipment.

Transnet is one of the largest railway companies in Africa, serving a network with a total length of 31 thousand kilometers.

Related:

Odessa railway installed more than 800 anti-theft devices

Find the latest news of the railway industry in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world on our page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, read Railway Supply magazine online.

Place your ads on webportal and in Railway Supply magazine. Detailed information is in Railway Supply media kit