A 52-year-old man has been charged over a spate of copper thefts that brought railways in Melbourne's west to a standstill last month and forced thousands of commuters onto buses during the morning peak.

The Altona Meadows man is being accused of stealing lucrative copper cables that caused Altona Loop services to be suspended or altered in the last week of October.

Police have charged a 52-year-old man over the thefts of copper cables. Credit:

Commuters were plagued by 40-minute delays during the morning peak and Metro ordered almost 50 buses while trains were down four times in one week.

"Transit police have charged a 52-year-old man with two counts of burglary and theft relating to the alleged theft of copper cabling," Victoria Police said in a statement.