Media centre

Tuesday 11 Apr 2006

EASTER RAILWAY SAFETY MESSAGE

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

With the Easter holidays well underway, Network Rail is warning children and young people to stay away from the railway in Wales and stay safe, and is also asking parents to lend their support in the campaign against railway crime.  Mark Langman, Network Rail’s General Manager for Wales and the Marches, said: “Only last week, two children were spotted lying on the track near Garth Station and jumped clear as the train approached – this could easily have resulted in devastating consequences. “We are asking parents – especially if they live near one or use a level crossing regularly – to stress to their children the dangers of playing in and around the railway.  We don’t want any children to die as a result of playing on the railway this Easter.” Following last summer’s success, Network Rail is bringing back its ‘human scarecrows’ to Cardiff, where young people frequently trespass on the railway, throw stones at trains and place objects onto the line.  The scarecrows patrol railway crime hot spots to deter people from trespassing onto the railway. Mark Langman added: “As owner and operator of the rail network, we have a responsibility to spread the message that the railway can be a dangerous place. You wouldn’t try to use a motorway as a short cut or a place to hang out - so why the railway?”