Thieves steal underground telephone cable Options

[JeffG]

Article with photograph of underground telephone cable:

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=16869

[Dodgys smarter b...]

Ah, yes, the Newburytoday site showing the sort of accuracy and precision it's become famous for. Not for them the belief that their punters can be palmed off with any old rubbish.

If they say that that's a picture of an underground telephone line, then that's good enough for me. Mind you, I also believe that W.B.C have never made a mistake, that the Pavilion is a good idea and Newbury has no traffic or parking problems.

Now, you must excuse me, I'm off to my Flat-Earth Society meeting.

[Strafin]

So what's the problem this time?

[Dodgys smarter b...]

So what's the problem this time?

Really?

[Biker1]

At the risk up upsetting Mr. Capp again - what an irrelevant post.

It's just an illustrative archive picture of some cable.
It doesn't detract from the article, the subject of which is obvious to the least intelligent reader.
I don't expect the NWN happened to have any pics. of underground telephone cable and it would be costly and time consuming to go out and take some.

I'm not saying the NWN is free of gaffs, far from it, but this is posting just for the sake of it!

[Dodgys smarter b...]

I guess some are prepared to put up with less standards of accuracy than others.

But it's not a irrelevant post though, containing as it does a degree of humour...

I guess some are more po-faced than others.

[Biker1]

If I started a post for every gaff or inaccuracy the NWN made it would probably clog up the server, humorous or not!

[Strafin]

Ah I see! It's not telephone cables in the picture. I wonder if they have to have a picture with every article?

[user23]

Article with photograph of underground telephone cable:

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=16869

Apart from them not being underground and those not being telephone cables they've got the picture spot on.

[JeffG]

At the risk up upsetting Mr. Capp again - what an irrelevant post.

I don't know what Mr Capp has to do with this, but obviously some people have a sense of humour failure. The photograph has absolutely no relevance to the article.

[Simon Kirby]

I can't imagine who'd want to get down a cable hole anyways.

[Andy Capp]

At the risk up upsetting Mr. Capp again - what an irrelevant post.

It's just an illustrative archive picture of some cable.
It doesn't detract from the article, the subject of which is obvious to the least intelligent reader.
I don't expect the NWN happened to have any pics. of underground telephone cable and it would be costly and time consuming to go out and take some.

Perhaps some people don't read very well and need pictures to better understand! In truth, I agree with both yours and JeffG's sentiments, all though I'm surprised they didn't at least use telegraph poles for an image.

[dannyboy]

At the risk up upsetting Mr. Capp again - what an irrelevant post.

It's just an illustrative archive picture of some cable.
It doesn't detract from the article, the subject of which is obvious to the least intelligent reader.
I don't expect the NWN happened to have any pics. of underground telephone cable and it would be costly and time consuming to go out and take some.

I'm not saying the NWN is free of gaffs, far from it, but this is posting just for the sake of it!

Well, they could either not bother with an image, or do what used to be done - send a photographer out & take one....

[NWNREADER]

Bearing in mind the majority of 'signal problems' on the rail network, that cause the delays we blame the service providers for, are actually caused by someone nicking the cable (low voltage, so a hack with a chain saw,angle grinder does the biz in no time) maybe the issue of cable theft should be seen as more than a jolly jape like nicking lead of the church roof.....

As for the pic to the story, I'd love to see someone nick that cable!!!!

[On the edge]

Bearing in mind the majority of 'signal problems' on the rail network, that cause the delays we blame the service providers for, are actually caused by someone nicking the cable (low voltage, so a hack with a chain saw,angle grinder does the biz in no time) maybe the issue of cable theft should be seen as more than a jolly jape like nicking lead of the church roof.....

As for the pic to the story, I'd love to see someone nick that cable!!!!

Oh would that this were true!! As a regular and long time traveller, 'signal problems' is the no.1 excuse when there is no snow to blame! So, have the rail authorities never had the gumption to properly protect the cables, or use other innovative solutions? Aafter all, although they do go off, trafiic lights seem so much more reliable. No - sorry - this might have happened once or twice - but thats it. In rail management terms - its just another brilliant excuse,

[Dodgys smarter b...]

Well, they could either not bother with an image, or do what used to be done - send a photographer out & take one....

It's just lazy journalism.

[JeffG]

As for the pic to the story, I'd love to see someone nick that cable!!!!

Even if they could avoid being fried, I don't think it would be particularly lucrative, since I believe transmission lines are mostly aluminium and steel, not copper.

[dannyboy]

It's just lazy journalism.

Swat I sed

[Biker1]

Oh would that this were true!! As a regular and long time traveller, 'signal problems' is the no.1 excuse when there is no snow to blame! So, have the rail authorities never had the gumption to properly protect the cables, or use other innovative solutions? After all, although they do go off, traffic lights seem so much more reliable. No - sorry - this might have happened once or twice - but thats it. In rail management terms - its just another brilliant excuse,

At the risk of upsetting Mr. Capp again by defending the railways - unfortunately the cable you talk of runs mainly in concrete troughs by the side of the line and is accessible by lifting the lids.
It would cost millions if not billions to bury it in ducting which would also make it less accessible to those who legitimately need to get to it.
Steps are being taken to protect the system from theft
As to comparing railway signals to traffic lights you have no idea what you are talking about.
Railway signalling is there to get you home safely. Not always on time but SAFELY!
The signalling system consists of a complicated network of signal boxes, track circuits and signals which, due to it's environment, is sometimes prone to failure.
When it does the object is to get you, the passenger, home SAFELY. This means a set of special rules have to be invoked by the driver and signaller to ensure your SAFETY. At least you get home in one piece which is more that can be said for some of those who jump red traffic lights.
If a train ignored signals as do many road users then you would not be alive to complain about delays.

[On the edge]

At the risk of upsetting Mr. Capp again by defending the railways - unfortunately the cable you talk of runs mainly in concrete troughs by the side of the line and is accessible by lifting the lids.
It would cost millions if not billions to bury it in ducting which would also make it less accessible to those who legitimately need to get to it.
Steps are being taken to protect the system from theft
As to comparing railway signals to traffic lights you have no idea what you are talking about.
Railway signalling is there to get you home safely. Not always on time but SAFELY!
The signalling system consists of a complicated network of signal boxes, track circuits and signals which, due to it's environment, is sometimes prone to failure.
When it does the object is to get you, the passenger, home SAFELY. This means a set of special rules have to be invoked by the driver and signaller to ensure your SAFETY. At least you get home in one piece which is more that can be said for some of those who jump red traffic lights.
If a train ignored signals as do many road users then you would not be alive to complain about delays.

Afraid I do know exactly what I'm talking about when it comes to the installation and operation of signalling systems. The secret is in the design and railway signalling engineers seem to have been complacent over many years - the problems we experience are simply down to poor design. Even to the uninitiated - the connecting cables are clearly a single point of failure; theft being only one cause. There are several ways to overcome this, certainly at installation and at no great expense. Its a problem they've known about since 1912, As for the safety aspect, not quite sure why you think road traffic lights are designed for anything else? In any event, the comparison was about installed equipment = frankly it would be easier and safer to remove a few yards of copper from a rural traffic light installation - than the immediate lineside of a mainline railway. So, it comes back to design and management. Cynic I may be, but the article you quote seems a classic monopoly provider management ploy to extract ever more cash.