Media centre

Tuesday 26 Jun 2007

ST NEOTS TEENS GET THE NO MESSIN’! MESSAGE AHEAD OF SUMMER BREAK

Region & Route:

| Eastern

As the summer holidays approach and teenagers wonder how to fill their free time, Network Rail's Rail Crime Education Team is stepping up its talks to local schools and youth groups with some bare facts about how playing on the railway can have disastrous consequences. Last week teenagers from the St Neots Youth Club took on board Network Rail's No Messin'! campaign messages such as:

• Up to 60 people are killed on the railway each year by taking short cuts or messing around on the tracks!
• Trains travel at up to 125mph and can take the length of 20 football pitches to stop!
• It takes up to 25,000 volts of electricity to power trains through the rails and overhead lines. It's always switched on and can even jump through the air to get to you. If you get too close it can kill – you don’t even have to touch anything to get killed!

In addition, local schoolgirl Toni Wigley collected her prize of an MP4 player after winning a No Messin'! competition about rail safety on Cambridge Youth Service website www.youthoria.org. Ian Chapman, Head of Rail Crime Education commented:"Over school holidays we see an increase of trespass and vandalism where young people have more time on their hands and some use the railways as a playground. Railways are not playground, they are dangerous places and every year young people are killed, injured and disfigured from incidents on the railway. "Our No Messin’! campaign aims to get across how dangerous the railway can be for trespassers and encourage young people to get involved in healthier and more fun activities. Congratulations to Toni and I hope that she and all her friends will now help us spread the No Messin’! rail crime messages." To help fill the summer holidays, teenagers across East Anglia can try out a for free a myriad of safer and healthier activities including bungee running, magic skills, motorcycling as well as playing on climbing walls and a surf machine at the No Messin’ Live regional event in Chelmsford on 15/16. Visit http://www.no-messin.com/ for more details.