Cable theft is nothing new, but the resurgent trend in this crime is costing the UK’s rail network millions, disrupting passenger safety and freight reliability and threatening the foundations of our critical national infrastructure. Barry Dawson, group managing director of First Response Group, pictured, discusses how serious this threat has become.
As professionals in the security industry, we are uniquely positioned to provide the strategic insight, technology, and partnerships required to counter this threat. The rail sector’s vulnerabilities underscore a critical need for the security industry to recalibrate its approach to infrastructure protection. It was well publicised earlier this year that just weeks before the new electrified Wigan to Bolton line was set to go live, over £100,000 of high voltage cable was stolen, delaying its launch and disrupting services with huge knock-on effects. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Every stolen metre of cable has the potential to knock out critical signalling systems, risking train delays or worse, a serious incident caused by miscommunication between rail operators. With Network Rail and British Transport Police reporting thefts costing taxpayers over £1m in the Wales and borders route alone since 2023, if this doesn’t justify urgent action, what does?
Cable theft is a low-risk, high-reward crime that exploits legacy infrastructure and patchy deterrence protocols. From a security perspective, it illustrates a failure to adopt layered, adaptive strategies that combine physical deterrence with intelligent monitoring, rapid response, and deterrent communications. The weaknesses of our rail infrastructure are all too clear, not just to those of us working in security but to the criminals exploiting them. We have the problem of how to secure and protect remote, unsupervised areas where valuable cables are accessible and relatively easy to remove. There are long stretches with limited surveillance and organised criminal gangs are taking advantage of this.
Recent criminal tactics reflect a professionalisation of theft operations. We’re now seeing adversaries deploy social engineering tactics by impersonating rail staff, using cloned vehicles, and operating under cover of darkness, all of which demand more sophisticated threat modelling and forensic readiness. The uncomfortable truth is that gangs can bypass forensic marking, cameras and sensor alerts thanks to sparse and inconsistent methods and protocols, and so what we need is a pro-active, predictive approach to security cover across the whole network.
At First Response Group we specialise in infrastructure security and have been carefully observing and learning first-hand the pattern of criminal trends and counter tactics. We’ve supported infrastructure providers across the UK in securing remote environments and high-risk zones, and we know what scalable protection looks like. Scalability in this context requires more than boots on the ground, it demands a layered tech stack. This includes perimeter detection systems, vibration sensors embedded in cable ducts, intelligent analytics that can distinguish maintenance activity from intrusion, and integration with rail operator control centres for real-time decision-making. What we are calling for, is the need for better coordination and smarter deployment of resources across the sector.
A predictive approach to security means using intelligence from drones and other surveillance tools, to analyse known hotspot areas and build systems through AI that can detect unusual behaviour before a crime takes place. This tech-led approach should support physical patrols but will require better communication between rail operators, police and security companies to share intelligence, conduct joint training and integrate response systems. Equally important is the need to define roles and responsibilities clearly between public authorities and private sector partners. Joint operating procedures (JOPs), shared incident response protocols, and interoperable systems will be key to sustaining a resilient and responsive security posture.
This brings us to the biggest opportunity that we have, to secure the rail network for good. For this to work, there needs to be collaboration and creation of sustained partnerships between public infrastructure providers and private security experts. Both sides bring innovation and industry specific expertise but without full alignment, we’re only solving part of the problem, in isolation, and missing an opportunity to create a national, long-term infrastructure security model.
We should also put pressure on the legal consequences of cable theft, so that it is more in line with the increasing seriousness of the threat. Cable-theft crime is covered under the Theft Act 1968. Under section 7 of the act, criminals convicted of theft can face imprisonment for up to seven years. In 2024, three individuals were imprisoned for only 14 years between them, for a staggering total of 31 offences over a nine-month period. This means the risk-to-reward-ratio continues to favour the criminal in what many may consider a light sentence for stealing miles of BT Openreach copper cables valued at around £1m and causing disruption to hundreds.
Thefts on the rail network don’t just delay the 2.8 billion journeys made by UK passengers each year; they derail the entire logistics chain. Freight operators rely on predictable scheduling, and every unplanned disruption hits supply chains and business confidence hard.
We must also remember that the rail industry supports over 700,000 jobs across operations, manufacturing, and the wider supply chain, and contributes more than £36 billion annually. Every pound invested in rail infrastructure delivers an estimated £2.20 in economic returns, making it one of the most impactful areas for long-term public investment, and when you put it like that, the imperative to protect it is clear.
Theft of critical infrastructure assets is not just an operational issue; it’s a national security concern. As leaders in security, it’s incumbent upon us to drive innovation, lead collaboration, and influence policy so that our infrastructure is no longer an easy target. The path forward is not just about response; it’s about collaboration and resilience.
About FRG
Since it began in 2007, Leeds-based First Response Group (FRG) has provided security and facilities services, permanent and temporary, to public and private sector clients across the UK; offering Security Personnel, CCTV and Access Control and vacant property protection. The firm has eight UK regional offices, and employs more than 2000. It’s a member of the ACS Pacesetters group of highest-scoring Security Industry Authority (SIA) approved contractors. Visit https://www.firstresponsegroup.com/.
