Cable theft brings trains to grinding halt in Poland
WARSAW (AFP) — Several passenger trains came to a grinding halt in Poland Monday after thieves stole overhead steel electric cables, the country's PKP state railways spokesman Miroslaw Siemieniec confirmed.
Two separate railway lines in the south west, connecting Wroclaw with Opole and another to Klodzko, were paralysed by the theft of around 400 meters (437 yards) of electric cable powering the trains, Siemieniec said.
"The PKP has arranged alternative regional passenger transport, while long-distance trains have been diverted to other lines," Siemieniec said, quoted by the PAP news agency.
The incident is not isolated. Polish railways have seen more than two million zloty in losses (610,000 euros, 988,700 dollars) in recent years as thieves have made off with electric cables and other assets.
