Man charged with burglary, firearm offences after alleged thefts of copper wire

Rail services were delayed during peak periods in Melbourne’s west last week, and now a man accused of causing the standstills has been arrested by police.

A man has been accused of stealing copper wire from Melbourne train tracks, which brought services to a standstill.

A man has been arrested over a series of alleged copper wire thefts that last week brought trains to a standstill in Melbourne’s west.

A 52-year-old man from Altona Meadows has been charged with two counts of burglary and theft as part of police investigations into the disruptions.

He was also charged with one count of a prohibited person possessing a firearm.

Services were delayed at busy times between October 24 and 31 after Metro Trains staff discovered crucial wiring was missing around Laverton, Newport and Westona.

Metro chief operating officer Catherine Baxter said the company’s security had discovered a man near the rail corridor last Friday and handed him over to Victoria Police.

“We know the series of cable thefts was disruptive for many of our Werribee line passengers – I’d like to thank them for their patience.

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“Cable theft is criminal, dangerous and causes significant disruption for our passengers who rely on our train services to get where they need to go.”

Metro staff will continue to patrol key areas across the network to prevent potential theft and vandalism.

Last week four incidents of missing wiring led to more than 15 hours of disruptions for trains on the Altona Loop.

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