On 16 Nov 2006 15:45:10 -0800, "alex_t"
wrote:


Tramlink recently suffered theft of
parts of its electrical distribution and bonding system

Who the hell would need that?
MetroNet? :-)

When I still lived in Newcastle in the eighties, it was commonplace
(i.e. happened several times a month) for the pikeys of the day to
steal huge lengths of signalling cable from certain sections of the
Metro, by attaching it to a land rover and pulling it all out of the
concrete troughs. I think the overhead lines were pulled down in a
similar way on occasion too.

I presume it got melted down for the copper because I can't imagine
who would want pre-used cable of that specification (it would be damn
obvious where it had come from).

No idea if it still happens as I no longer live there, I presume they
have either fortified the line or buried the cables better, or maybe
it is no longer economic to melt down copper cabling.

Hi,

Peter Frimberley wrote:

No idea if it still happens as I no longer live there, I presume they
have either fortified the line or buried the cables better, or maybe
it is no longer economic to melt down copper cabling.

I've seen several articles about copper being stolen lately. It seems
that it stopped getting nicked partly because the market price of
copper fell for several years, but lately has increased by quite a
margin (I think I saw figures saying 300-400%). This has caused a
resurgence of this type of theft - anywhere with easily accessible
copper cables - because it is basically now economically viable again.

Regards,

Luke