£30,000 reward to catch Midlands lineside arsonist

A £30,000 reward is being offered to help catch an arsonist who started two lineside fires at Canley (between Coventry and Birmingham), disrupting services for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The incident happened on November 16. 

Train services through the area were reduced from six per hour to two. Network Rail and Virgin Trains are each offering £15,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the successful prosecution of those responsible.

Network Rail Route Managing Director Martin Frobisher said: “We want help finding the person who did this. As well as causing huge disruption, it also cost Network Rail more than £1.1 million in compensation payments to train companies, money which could have been spent on further improvements to the railway. So please, if you know anything about this incident, let British Transport Police know as soon as possible.”

BTP Detective Inspector Gareth Davies said: “This is not a victimless attack on railway infrastructure. It would have caused misery to a lot of people’s lives that day, and we will never know the number of long-awaited hospital appointments, job interviews or overdue family gatherings - all cancelled because of the mindless actions of one individual.”

The attacks were a replica of a similar incident in May, which also caused significant delays to passengers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact British Transport Police on 0800 405040, or text 61016, quoting background log MSUB/B2 of 16/11. Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.