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Tuesday 20 Aug 2024

Deer-oh-deer: Network Rail unveils the country’s worst trespassing criminals

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National

• Deer top the list of criminal animals that most frequently trespass on the railway
• But people are by far the worst offender
• Over the last year animals trespassed four times a day; people, every half-an-hour!

New figures released by Network Rail reveal that animals trespassed 1,432 times in the 12 months to 31 March 2024 ranging from deer at one end of the scale to bees, a donkey, mice, hedgehogs and even a now, well-known tortoise. But by far the worst offender are people with over 19,300 incidents – one every half-an-hour.

Our deer-est pals who tend to live in high numbers across rural, forested areas, which are commonly found alongside the railway[i] ranked first place, with almost 350 incidents over the year.

Baaa-rt not far behind, were our woolly friends – sheep – in second place with 177 incidents. Ruffling the train schedule feathers, birds and swans in third (172) and fifth place (143) respectively. While moo-ving into fourth place were cows with 156 recorded incidents.

Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s operations chief, said: “Trespassing on the railway is a serious offence that causes delays to thousands of trains every year and can be very costly for people – causing death and life changing injuries due to the railways many hidden dangers. This summer, when we see trespass at its peak our message is clear whoever you are: child, adult, dog walker, holiday maker or beast – stay off the tracks.”

Other dastardly villains included dogs (135), cats (107), badgers (55), foxes (42) and in tenth place, pigs (38). While some of the more unexpected visitors have included bees, mice, hedgehogs and even a llama and a tortoise.

Network Rail has a range of measures in place to help it manage and minimise animal incursions onto the railway, these include:

• Trialling the use of AI to detect deer on the railway.
  •  In May (2023), Network Rail and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) trialled a deer detection system using artificial intelligence (AI) along two key hotspots on the East Coast Main Line which runs from London King’s Cross station to Edinburgh after high volumes of deer were found entering the railway boundary.
    
    
  • Since then, the system has deterred just under 6,000 deer from accessing the railway, with plans for it to be rolled out further in the near future.
    
    
  • The automated deer deterrent system (ADDs) uses sound and vision sensors to identify when a deer approaches the track and once it has, sets an alarm off that warns the deer away. The AI cameras then monitor its movement until it has been diverted to a safe distance away.
    
• Installing wildlife crossings.
  • Deer leaps were first trialled in Scotland, in 2019, with the aim being to allow younger deer to get over the fences and reduce the number of potential accidents involving them if they get lost on the railway.
    
    
• Partnering with animal charities who provide specialist training.
  • Experts at the Swan Sanctuary, provide MOMs with special training where they are taught how to safely remove swans from the railway and release them into the wild. This can be challenging as part of the network is powered by the third rail which carries 750 volts of electricity.
    
    
• Annually inspecting fencing and working closely with farmers who own land near the railway.
  • Network Rail works closely with local communities and farmers who live alongside the railway to ensure that suitable fencing is installed and maintained along the railway boundary on an annual basis - further fence checks are also carried out if farmers bring more livestock to their land.