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A £10,000 reward has been offered to identify people responsible for putting lives in danger on a railway line in Staffordshire.

On two consecutive nights (18-19 March and 19-20 March) vandals placed objects on the tracks near to Wilnecote station, on the outskirts of Tamworth, risking the lives and safety of people on board trains.

Now, in a bid to trace those responsible, Network Rail and CrossCountry have pledged £10,000 to anyone who provides information which leads to an arrest and conviction.

Detective Chief Inspector John Sidebottom, of British Transport Police, said: “It is imperative that we trace those responsible for causing these incidents.

“Thankfully no-one was seriously injured in either incident, but the reality is that we could have been left dealing with mass casualties or even, in a worst case scenario, fatalities.”

The first incident, which occurred at around 11.30pm on 18 March, saw the 11.09pm Birmingham New Street to Nottingham service strike concrete blocks and other debris that had been piled up on the line.  The driver managed to bring the train to a halt after hitting the objects, which included concrete, wooden pallets and sand bags. No one was injured but the driver was left extremely shaken by the incident – and the train suffered serious damage.

The second incident occurred shortly before 6am on 20 March when two trains collided with a number of tyres which had been placed in the line, between the platforms, at Wilnecote Station.  One of the trains was travelling at more than 100mph when the collision occurred, causing substantial damage to the unit.  There were no passengers on board the trains, but one of the drivers was treated for shock.

Chris Rowley, Network Rail’s area general manager, said: “This sort of senseless vandalism puts the lives and safety of innocent people at risk.  It also causes a huge amount of disruption for passengers as well as thousands of pounds of damage.  We are committed to tackling trespass and vandalism on the railway and hope by offering this reward we will not only catch those involved, but enable passengers and train crews to continue using the railway safely.”

Andy Cooper, CrossCountry’s managing director, said: “These senseless acts risk injuring our customers and those responsible, and the disruption they cause can affect thousands of other rail users. We would urge anyone with information to contact British Transport Police to help put an end to these dangerous crimes.”

In a bid to prevent further acts of vandalism, BTP officers have stepped up patrols in the area and are asking members of the public who live or work nearby to report anything suspicious.

DCI Sidebottom added: “BTP is working with our partner agencies to make the railway as safe as possible and we take an extremely dim view of anyone whose behaviour threatens this safety.

“I cannot over emphasise the danger posed by this type of crime and urge anyone with information to come forward.

“Thankfully, so far, no-one has been seriously injured – but we may not be so fortunate if this happens again.”

If members of the public have information about the incidents at Wilnecote please ring BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In all calls please quote incident 728 0f 18/3/10 or 71 of 20/3/10.