Cable Theft Disrupts West London Trains

Thousands passengers hit by delays

Mainline rail services in and out of London Paddington station were severley disrupted on Wednesday after 300ft of signalling cable was stolen from West Drayton.

The vandalism meant all signals on the four lines in and out of Paddington turned red and services had to be "drastically" cut, a Network Rail spokesman said.

The theft had a knock-on effect for Wednesday evening's rush-hour and also affected plans for those travelling to screenings of England's World Cup match against Slovenia.
Engineers at scene.

The cables have now been reconnected and engineers have been working through the night to test them, Network Rail said.

"Our aim is to restore services for the morning peak" the spokesman added.

Commuters in London have also faced potential disruption because of a 48-hour strike by Tube maintenance workers.

24 June 2010