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Thirty people have been prosecuted in the last two months as a result of a crack-down on thefts of railway metal, rail network operator Ontrack says.
Land and asset manager Frazer Tweedie said Ontrack had been working with police and scrap metal dealers to curb an increase in thieves targeting the main railway corridor as the price of scrap metal rises.
He said the company needed to respond as the thefts presented a safety issue as well as costing the rail industry heavily.
Mr Tweedie said staff were being urged to report suspicious behaviour and scrap metal dealers were being provided with details of the type of metal being targeted.
"You cannot sell scrap metal without providing ID and we are now receiving calls direct from the dealers when a person arrives at their premises with railway metal," he said.
Thefts included used track and other railway material such as screws, pandrol clips and bedplates, that have been removed from a line and stored nearby.
Mr Tweedie said a plague of thefts meant Ontrack was finding it now had to buy rail components such as bed plates for the first time in years.
He said the theft of railway material was a nationwide issue, but particularly significant in Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu.
Meanwhile, police arrested four men in the Manawatu town of Feilding yesterday who were found in possession of copper plumbing stripped from a local business premises.
Detective Sergeant Ashley Gurney from the Palmerston North police said officers in the area were alerted to suspicious behaviour by the men and were able to stop them after being given a description of their vehicle.
Mr Gurney said prices for such metal was high at the moment and such thefts were an increasing frustration.
Two of the men arrested will appear in Feilding District Court next week on theft charges and the other two will face charges of receiving stolen property.
- NZPA
