Man charged over rail arson attacks

Nov 24 2005 By Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

A FORMER railway worker was due in court today charged with a string of arson and vandal attacks that brought the Midlands train network to a standstill.

Alan David Nicol faces a charge of intent to endanger life after allegedly setting fire to a signal relay building in Rugeley, Staffordshire, on November 3.

The 46-year-old is also charged with eleven counts of aggravated criminal damage and obstruction with intent on the West Midlands rail network dating back to last summer.

The railway industry agency worker, from Yardley, was arrested after a breakthrough in the case that has tied up British Transport detectives for more than a year.

He was due before magistrates in Birmingham later today.

The attacks, which started last summer, brought misery to tens of thousands of Midlands commuters who relied on the trains to get to work.

The attacks, which cost the industry £5 million, started in June last year when line-side cabling was cut on the Birmingham to north east line.

Seven more attacks followed over the next seven weeks, culminating in arson attacks on location boxes in Barnt Green and Kingswinford.

As criminal psychologists and analysts were called in, the attacks suddenly ended. They re-started in September with an attack in Garretts Green. In ten attacks, vital cables were severed and set on fire.

Train drivers, guards and the public were put on alert for anything out of the ordinary in a bid to track down the arsonist.

The last incident in Rugeley, Staffordshire, saw a signal substation destroyed in the fire, causing more than 100 services to be cancelled and the West Coast Mainline to be shut down.

A £50,000 reward - one of the largest in rail history - was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the saboteur.

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