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Rail industry crackdown as trespassing criminals cause more than 3,300 hours of delays for passengers in a year
- Trespass crime including cable theft, vandalism, and obstruction caused nearly five months of delays to passengers and cost the industry over £10 million in delay costs in 2025/26
- Cable theft alone caused over 2,100 hours of delays and saw delay costs double to £6.8m in 2025/26
- New crackdown campaign sees rail industry and British Transport Police working closer together than ever in tackling trespass and railway crime
- New technology and better evidence gathering to bring more offenders to justice and reduce impact on passengers.
Latest News
Trespassers cause almost 1000 hours of delays to passengers across Scotland's Railway
New figures reveal that trespass, vandalism and cable theft cost Scotland’s Railway almost £2 million over the last year, with 1,231 incidents recorded across the network.
ONE MONTH TO GO: October half-term railway upgrades between Staines and Windsor
- Engineering work takes place between Monday 26 October and Sunday 1 November affecting train services in the Staines, Windsor, Hounslow, Feltham and Virginia Water areas
- Bridge and track upgrades form part of wider plan to reduce delays and improve reliability between London Waterloo, Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside
- Customers should plan their journeys carefully as buses will replace trains
Improvements are coming for South Western Railway’s (SWR) route between Staines and Windsor this October.
Campaign warns of consequences after railway crime causes nearly 100 days of delays
Trespass, vandalism and cable theft caused more than 2,347 hours of delays – equivalent to 98 days – on Network Rail’s North & East route in 2025/26, new figures show.
Network Rail announces major accessibility upgrade for Kings Langley station
Passengers at Kings Langley station are set to benefit from significantly improved accessibility as Network Rail prepares to deliver a major station upgrade funded through the Department for Transport's Access for All programme.
Rail industry crackdown as trespassing criminals cause more than 1,000 hours of delays for Wales and Borders passengers in one year
New data reveals trespass including incidents of cable theft, vandalism and obstruction severely impacted passenger journeys and contributed £2.5 million in delay costs to the industry in 2025/26.
Campaign warns of consequences after trespass causes more than 60 days of delays
Trespass, vandalism and cable crime caused more than 1,500 hours of delays – equivalent to 63 days – on the East Midlands route in 2025/26, new figures show.
Trespass causes 90 days’ worth of delays in the West as rail industry launches crime crackdown
- More than 1,300 trespass incidents were recorded across Network Rail’s Great Western route in 2025/26
- Combined, these incidents caused almost 130,000 minutes of delays, equivalent to around 90 days
- Rail industry and British Transport Police launch new campaign warning that railway crime has serious consequences
Network Rail East Coast and LNER back Crime with Consequences industry campaign
Network Rail East Coast and LNER are supporting a new rail industry campaign aiming to crack down on crimes committed by trespassers.