Frank Lane, 47, of Church Lane, Bedford pleaded guilty to the theft from Bedford Railway Depot, where he was captured on CCTV at just before 11.00am on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
Cambridge Crown Court heard Lane gained access to the depot via a pedestrian gate, carrying the angle grinder with him.
He approached the cable storage area, taking a moment to identify which roll drum of cable to steal, before using the angle grinder to free one of the drums, each of which contains high value metals.
After cutting it free, he rolled the drum out of the depot and down the street, into the back of a nearby white van that had a false registration plate on it before driving away from the scene.
After viewing CCTV footage and finding a clear image of Lane, officers arrested him in February and he was bailed before being charged in May, 2024.
British Transport Police’s investigating officer PC Alex Charge, said: "This conviction sends a clear message that dangerous, costly, and disruptive crimes such as cable theft will not be tolerated.
"Attempting to steal metal from the railway network or from depots can pose a serious risk of harm to the offender, and the costs incurred by the railway operator are passed on to the average commuter."
Dan Matthews, operations director at Network Rail, added: "Cable theft - even from our depots - can delay our upgrade work to make services more reliable and means we can't respond as quickly when things go wrong. It also makes running the railway more expensive for taxpayers.
"We're delighted that British Transport Police has secured this conviction which shows we're working ever more closely together to protect trains and passengers from the effects of crime."
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