BVG boss Rolf Erfurt with a new thermal imaging device that the transport companies are now using. He accompanied the night shift of the property guards Photo: Olaf Selchow
From Hildburg Bruns
The wire mesh is cut and rolled up. A nocturnal entry point for criminals! The result for passengers: The U3 is disrupted for two weeks and only runs every ten minutes between Breitenbachplatz and Krumme Lanke.
Podbielskiallee crime scene: BVG boss Rolf Erfurt (51) is on site in the drizzle. Property guards show him their discovery from last week in the dark. He puts her new thermal imaging device in front of her face. The professionals discovered at least one of the perpetrators in the track bed and immediately alerted the police.
The perpetrators struck at the Podbielskiallee subway station Photo: Olaf Selchow
Three sections sent patrols and a helicopter rose. But the thieves could no longer be caught. After all, they had to leave their loot behind. 1.2 tons of copper cable, already stripped of insulation and cut into pieces.
There are now two missing 100 meters of power supply on the route. This cannot be obtained again so quickly in times of difficult delivery situations.
The hole in the fence through which the cable thieves gained access to the U3 route Photo: Olaf Selchow
“The purchase of the new thermal imaging devices was an idea from our colleagues, which we quickly implemented,” says the BVG boss, who knows how hard this 24-hour backbreaking job is.
Night patrol by the BVG property guards Photo: Olaf Selchow
The transport companies have now bought a double-digit number. In addition to the train stations, 35 BVG areas such as staging areas, warehouses and buildings have to be patrolled.
And given rising raw material prices, copper theft is increasing. This year alone there have been 43 cases with 850,000 euros in damage (excluding train cancellations). “We have also increased the protection of our facilities,” says Erfurt. The number rose to 2,350 hours of use per day last year – in 2016 it was 1,450 hours per day.