Commuter rail service in northeast Spain has been disrupted by theft of copper cables near Barcelona

Spanish rail authorities say commuter rail service serving Barcelona and northeastern Spain has suffered major disruption because of the theft of copper cables from a train installation. Thousands of commuters were stranded at train stations in and around Barcelona on Sunday after trains couldn't run on several commuter lines. The disruption to local transport came while more than 5.7 million voters were eligible to participate in a regional election in Catalonia.