Since the start of 2023, Infrabel has been the victim of 85 cable thefts – a significant decrease compared to last year Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet announced.
In 2022, the rail network operator recorded 466 cable thefts which led to 33,169 minutes of delay, or more than 1.5 hours every day. In addition to the impact on punctuality, cable thefts represent a significant financial cost for the rail company with almost €7 million in 2022.
Since the start of 2023, 11,202 minutes of delays have been recorded on the rail network, with 1,887 trains impacted. According to figures previously communicated by Infrabel, the minutes lost amounted to 4,121 in 2021, 3,633 in 2020, 15,358 in 2019 and 51,675 in 2018.
Average minutes of delay per year due to cable theft. Credit: Belga / Infrabel
"These cable thefts are one of the major causes of the delays suffered by SNCB trains so I welcome these encouraging results. But we must remain vigilant and continue to develop measures to further improve these figures, as well as implement other actions and investments to improve the reliability of our rail service."
To combat the phenomenon, Infrabel is working in cooperation with the Railway Police (SPC) to carry out night-time control operations. In addition to traditional patrols, targeted control operations are also carried out in the field throughout the year.
To further protect its cables (which are already buried under rubble), Infrabel has this year installed GPS tracers, making it possible to transmit the location of cables in real-time and thus quickly apprehend suspects.
The market value of copper – which is the key material of most cables – has risen hugely in recent years Alternatives to copper are also being sought.
