Media centre

Monday 31 Mar 2003

NETWORK RAIL AND xxx TEAM UP TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFE

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail and xxxx are doubling their efforts this Easter to stop children playing on the railway lines during the school holidays. The Easter campaign will be launched at the xxx v xxx game on xxxx, with a message in the programme aimed at parents and warning them that their children are at risk if they don’t know the dangers of playing on the railways. As part of the club’s coaching sessions held at venues around xxxx, the team’s coaches will be delivering the message that railways are not playgrounds. The school holidays are traditionally the worse time for incidents of trespass and vandalism on the railways. Research shows the main offenders are eight to 14-year-old boys. Every year children are killed or injured and their associated acts of vandalism also endanger the lives of passengers and railway workers. For the past  xxx years Network Rail and xxxx have teamed up to deliver the message to children in the xxx area about the dangers of playing on the railway lines. Xxx coaches have visited schools in the area under their Football in the Community scheme and as part of that impressed upon pupils the message: safety is our goal. “We are delighted to continue this association with xxx as part of our ongoing commitment to educate children of the dangers of trespassing on and vandalising the railways,” said Margaret Barker , Network Rails route crime manager for Southern Region. “We hope this two-pronged attack – with coaching sessions for the children and warning messages for parents – will help keep children safe during the holidays.”