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Monday 4 Sep 2006

MEDIA INVITATION: LOCAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AT ELSENHAM CROSSING

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Eastern: Anglia

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Date: Wednesday 6 September (3pm – 6pm) Thursday 7 September (7am – 10am) Location: Elsenham level crossing Media contact: Stuart Buss 020 7904 4341 / 07799 337367 A local safety awareness campaign will take place at Elsenham crossing this week.  This follows the tragic deaths of Olivia Bazlinton and Charlotte Thompson at the crossing last year. Representatives from Network Rail, British Transport Police (BTP), train operator ‘one’, and Tina Hughes, mother of Olivia Bazlinton, will hand out level crossing safety leaflets, which contain advice for people using the crossing. The campaign has been timed to coincide with the new school term and will take place on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning to target schoolchildren, parents and train passengers in both the morning and evening rush hours. Tina Hughes and Chris Bazlinton said: “We support Network Rail’s efforts to raise awareness about the level crossing at Elsenham and encourage safe and proper use among the many people who use the station to commute to school and work.” Network Rail’s Route Director Jon Wiseman said: “The deaths of Charlotte and Olivia were a tragedy. We believe it is now an appropriate time to hold a local campaign at Elsenham to raise awareness about level crossing use and remind people how to use the crossing safely. We thank Tina Hughes for her involvement in this campaign and would encourage all local people to pick up and read a leaflet to ensure they use the crossing safely and correctly.” The campaign follows consultation with Elsenham community leaders in July and reflects a recommendation made in the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) report published in May. Since the RSSB report, a number of other measures have been introduced at the crossing. Jon Wiseman said: “We have taken a number of measures to make the crossing at Elsenham even safer: a second ticket machine has now been installed; permanent CCTV cameras are in place; we have arranged for a greater BTP presence at the crossing; and we will be fitting an “Another Train Coming” voice alarm in the future. Along with this, we are continuing to explore the other options available to us and will consider them as we make short and long term plans for the crossing.”