Cable theft Belgium

Sharp increase in cable theft in Belgium

Most incidents happened in the Walloon Region. Benjamin Brolet / Infrabel

Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel last year registered 466 cases of cable theft, a threefold increase over 2021 and a new record. As a result, Infrabel and the federal railway police (SPC) will jointly step up preventative measures.

The previous record stood at 315 incidents in 2018 whereas in 2021 cable theft happened 153 times. Last year, 83 per cent of the 466 cases happened in the Walloon Region. Flanders had a share of 12 per cent, with Brussels taking the remaining 5 per cent. The hardest-hit region was Charleroi, where 296 incidents happened. The administrative regions of Liège, Antwerp and Brussels followed with 62, 34 and 21 cases respectively.

Cable theft resulted in 33,169 minutes of delay last year, Infrabel has calculated. Additionally, because repairs following theft have to take priority, other maintenance works have to be postponed. For this reason, Infrabel is going to step up its measures, such as increased GPS tracking of materials, marking buried cables and replacing copper with aluminium where possible and technically feasible. The SPC on its part will increase its inspections campaigns. These are in addition to regular patrols.

This year, too, there already have been incidents of cable theft. In January alone, 3 cases were registered, resulting in delays. According to Infrabel, 6 people were arrested that month. Last year, the authorities were able to prosecute 11 individuals for cable theft.

This article was first published on RailTech’s Belgian sister publication RailTech.be.

Further reading:

Author: Nick Augusteijn

Former Chief Editor of RailTech.com

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Sharp increase in cable theft in Belgium | RailTech.com
Cable theft Belgium

Sharp increase in cable theft in Belgium

Most incidents happened in the Walloon Region. Benjamin Brolet / Infrabel

Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel last year registered 466 cases of cable theft, a threefold increase over 2021 and a new record. As a result, Infrabel and the federal railway police (SPC) will jointly step up preventative measures.

The previous record stood at 315 incidents in 2018 whereas in 2021 cable theft happened 153 times. Last year, 83 per cent of the 466 cases happened in the Walloon Region. Flanders had a share of 12 per cent, with Brussels taking the remaining 5 per cent. The hardest-hit region was Charleroi, where 296 incidents happened. The administrative regions of Liège, Antwerp and Brussels followed with 62, 34 and 21 cases respectively.

Cable theft resulted in 33,169 minutes of delay last year, Infrabel has calculated. Additionally, because repairs following theft have to take priority, other maintenance works have to be postponed. For this reason, Infrabel is going to step up its measures, such as increased GPS tracking of materials, marking buried cables and replacing copper with aluminium where possible and technically feasible. The SPC on its part will increase its inspections campaigns. These are in addition to regular patrols.

This year, too, there already have been incidents of cable theft. In January alone, 3 cases were registered, resulting in delays. According to Infrabel, 6 people were arrested that month. Last year, the authorities were able to prosecute 11 individuals for cable theft.

This article was first published on RailTech’s Belgian sister publication RailTech.be.

Further reading:

Author: Nick Augusteijn

Former Chief Editor of RailTech.com

Add your comment

characters remaining.

Log in through one of the following social media partners to comment.