A young cyclist who took a short cut through a busy rail tunnel has been jailed for causing commuter chaos.
Denim Llewellyn, 19, risked his life as rail passengers saw him on his cycle short cut in the morning rush hour.
A court heard it caused a major safety alert – and 14 hours of cancellations for commuters.
Prosecutor Ian Kolvin said the alarm was raised when the cyclist disappeared into the tunnel – and was feared he could be trapped inside.
Trains on the busy line were placed on caution at first before the services were suspended while police searched the track on the commuter line between Cardiff and Caerphilly.
Mr Kolvin said: “Llewellyn was seen with a push bike on Caerphilly train station at 6.45am.
“Llewellyn entered a 950 yard long railway tunnel which caused trains to be stopped completely.
“Anyone walking through that tunnel put themselves and others in considerable danger.”
He said the train driver got out to speak to Llewellyn and told him: “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
But Llewellyn ignored this and other warnings to get off the track.
Mr Colvin said: “Rush hour trains were delayed by 85 minutes and there had been 23 cancellations costing £6,380.”
Transport police released CCTV photos of the “reckless idiot” cyclist wheeling along the train tracks into the mile-long tunnel.
The CCTV images later led to Llewellyn being identified and tracked to London where he was arrested.
Huw Wallace, defending, said: “He has learned a valuable lesson. He apologises to all those passengers who had their time wasted.”
Recorder Judge Eleri Rees told him: “You not only put your own life at risk but endangered the lives of others who had to tackle the problem.
“You were obstinate and ignored warnings. There was an arrogance in the way you acted, causing disruption and inconveniences to others,”
Llewellyn, of Roath, Cardiff, was jailed for nine weeks after admitting obstructing the railway line.
He appeared via video link from Cardiff Prison where he is serving a nine month sentence for an offence of unlawful wounding.
British Transport Police spokesman Morgan Andrews said: “I am genuinely shocked to see that, despite our constant warnings some people are still willing to risk their lives by trespassing on the tracks.
“This was absolutely senseless behaviour and I cannot overstate just how dangerous it is.”
It may be pedantic but if the tunnel length is mentioned it should be correct, the two lengths given are incorrect. The tunnel is actually 1 mile 117 yards long, or 1,877 yards (British Rail Tunnels, A. Blower, 1964) and has a span of 25 feet.
The tunnel is a marvel of Victorian engineering where the men digging moved nearly 20 tonnes of soil per man, per day. It opened in 1871 and has served Caerffili well ever since. Without this tunnel passengers would have to travel to Cardiff via Nantgarw and Taffs Well. We don’t spare much thought to it as we travel rapidly from Caerffili to Cardiff but it is surely the most cost effective civil engineering project this town has ever seen.