Media centre

Thursday 11 Mar 2021

Plea to residents after flying trampoline disrupts Merseyrail trains

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Rail passengers have been delayed after gales blew a trampoline onto the Merseyrail network on the Wirral.

Trains were brought to a halt after the flying trampoline came to rest on tracks at New Brighton in Wallasey at around 6am this morning (Thursday 11 March).

Fortunately it took just 15 minutes for track workers to remove the offending item, allowing the electric rails to be re-energized so passengers could once again be on their way.

The dramatic incident has prompted Network Rail to issue a plea to trackside householders to tether trampolines and other garden items during stormy weather.

Phil James, director for Network Rail’s North West route, said: “In strong winds trampolines become airborne very easily. Our advice is: Please tether these kinds of items. That way you won’t lose them and train passengers’ journeys won’t be disrupted. We’re appealing to people living by the railway to ensure other items, such as gazebos, marquees and tents are fixed in place, so they don’t end up on the railway during high winds.”

Zoe Hands, chief operating officer at Merseyrail, said: “Whenever strong winds are forecast, we ask local residents to check their gardens for anything that could potentially fly away. Trampolines, tents and tarpaulin are classic items that we see on our network all the time. While this may seem innocuous, it can be dangerous for staff to retrieve these items as our trains get their electricity from a third rail on the ground which is an electrocution risk. To mitigate that risk and the chance of coming to serious harm while trains are still operating, we often need to isolate parts of the network to retrieve the items and this causes significant disruption.”

The bad weather could cause further travel disruption today with strong wind and heavy rain forecast.

Passengers making essential journeys are advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information,