The railway industry and British Transport Police have launched a new campaign against trespassing and crime on the railway.

The new ‘Crime with Consequences’ campaign is designed to ensure potential offenders are aware that if they commit crimes on the railway, they will face the full force of the law, which includes severe fines or prison sentences.

Each year, criminals trespassing on the railway are responsible for trains being delayed by more than 3,300 hours.

In the year 2025/2026, criminals stealing cables, causing vandalism, and obstructing railway lines resulted in nearly five months of delays to trains and cost the industry over £10 million in delay costs. A single incident of trespassing on the railway at Hendon in North London in January 2025 cost Network Rail over £500,000 in delay minutes.

The theft of cables caused over 2,100 hours of delays, with the resultant delay costs doubling to £6.8m.

One of the main reasons for disruption is trespassing, which can significantly impact train performance, as well as passengers, freight, and railway staff, and has a considerable financial cost.

The wider collaboration aims to minimise the impact of trespassing by providing a deeper understanding of the problem of trespassing and how to tackle crime, identify offenders, and minimise the impact on the railway.

Thefts that damage signalling mechanisms and overhead wires often result in lengthy delays to both passenger and freight services by impacting the railway’s ability to operate safely.

Instances of vandalism and offenders deliberately placing items on the tracks to obstruct trains caused over 1,200 hours of delays and cost over £4 million in delay costs in 2025/26.

Among the measures Network Rail is introducing to tackle cable theft and other crimes are hidden ‘trespass beads’ in cables to track down offenders, more patrols on the East Coast Main Line, and drones, sensors, and smart CCTV.

In July, Transport for Wales reported a 23% drop in trespass incidents across its South Wales Metro railway lines after it ran rail safety education workshops for 50,000 schoolchildren

“Behind every one of these delays caused by railway crime is someone not being able to get home to their family, another person late to a job interview, or food stuck on its way to a supermarket shelf. Cable theft, vandalism and obstruction aren’t victimless crimes; they’re crimes against the millions of people who rely on the rail network every day. The rail industry is working more closely than ever with the British Transport Police, using new technology, from concealed tracking devices to smart CCTV, to detect offences more quickly and support investigations. This campaign is a clear warning that anyone who commits crime on the railway risks facing serious consequences for their actions.”

Anit Chandarana, Director for System Operator, Network Rail