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Monday 22 Jul 2024

CCTV released to prevent trespass in Yorkshire and the North East

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: North & East

Alarming CCTV has been released to urge people to stay off the railway after more than 2,600 incidents of trespass in the last year across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and the North East.

Network Rail has today (Monday 22 July) released the new footage and figures to urge people to stay off the tracks and not put themselves and others at risk during the school summer holidays.

There were 2,660 incidents of trespassing recorded across the North and East in 2023-24, with 314 of them children.

Further analysis shows that trespass in Network Rail’s North and East Route* is more likely to happen during the summer months, with 70% of incidents reported between April to September**.

These incidents caused passengers to face nearly 12,000 minutes of delayed trains - equivalent to more than 8 days***.

The CCTV shows irresponsible behaviour at Newton Aycliffe, Seaham, and Bramley stations.

People can be seen running across the tracks, taking shortcuts, and using the railway for photo shoots, putting their lives in significant danger.

Chloe Creffield, Network Rail’s community safety manager in the North and East, said: “The railway is an incredibly dangerous place and people who trespass are putting themselves at risk and breaking the law.

“We urge people to remember the consequences of trespassing and the devastating impact it can have on themselves, their family, passengers and the wider community, and train drivers. Closing the railway while we investigate incidents of trespass disrupts lives and also causes costly delays for passengers.

“Ahead of the summer holidays, we hope the CCTV footage will remind the public to think of their own safety and see that trespassing on the railway can be life-threatening.”

Nationally, statistics show that on average at least two people risk their lives on the railway every hour.

This summer, the rail industry will continue to educate people living in near high-risk areas about the dangers of railway trespass using the story of Harrison Ballantyne.

He was 11 when he lost his life after straying unauthorised onto the railway.

His harrowing story can be viewed on the You vs Train website, which also details facts about the dangers present on the railway as well as information on  the rail industry’s anti-trespass initiatives. 

Parents with children of Key Stage 1 age can find more age-appropriate rail safety tools on the Switched On website.