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Friday 3 Jul 2009

CLEAN UP SQUAD BLITZ READING RAILWAY

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Over a tonne of litter have been removed today by a special squad led by Network Rail to clean up the Reading railway, creating a ‘golden mile’ near Reading station.

The ‘Reading Mile’ initiative has brought a vastly improved environment for local residents and passengers, and has served as a warning to fly tippers who use the railway as their dumping ground.

A large cycle wheel, a football and broken bottles were among some of the litter picked up by the 30-strong squad from Network Rail.

Jack Hitchcock, western route maintenance director for Network Rail said: "We have a duty to the community to remove this blight from their area but time and money could be better used on improving and expanding rail services. This is why we urge anyone who has information about fly-tipping or other forms of vandalism to call the British Transport police and help us fight this costly anti-social crime."

“Not only is fly tipping an illegal activity, but it is unsightly and poses a health and safety risk to rail passengers, employees and our lineside neighbours. Large items such as beds and other household goods dumped pose a real safety risk to the railway as they have the potential to derail a train if placed on the track. It will also create access problems for our engineers when work begins in the area to redevelop Reading railway.

Following the success of the clean up, Network Rail will continue to monitor the area to remove further litter and crack down on fly tippers with the help of relevant authorities.