Media centre

Tuesday 1 Aug 2006

ZERO TOLERANCE MAKES BRISTOL MORE A-TRACK-TIVE

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Passengers travelling in and out of Bristol Temple Meads station are now benefiting from an extensive clean-up of the railway, cracking down on vandals, fly-tippers and graffiti artists in the Bristol area.  The ‘Bristol Temple Meads Mile’ initiative, which took place on 31 July, involved more than 50 maintenance and operations staff from Network Rail improving a one mile area either side of Bristol Temple Meads station.  Work involved the painting out and cleaning of graffiti on line-side equipment, buildings and structures, the collection of rubbish, scrap and litter; and the strimming of vegetation.  In total, 36 tonnes of rubbish were collected and 285 instances of graffiti were removed. Robbie Burns, Network Rail’s Western Route Director, said: “Graffiti and vandalism are anti-social crimes that affect everyone who travels and works on the railway.  The clean up has been an enormous lift for the local community and those who travel through the station. “We are determined to tackle graffiti and vandalism on the railway and make sure people know they will not be tolerated. We welcome any help that members of the public can give us in catching those responsible, and we urge anyone with information to call the British Transport Police on 0800 405040.” Following the success of the clean up, the area has now become a ‘zero tolerance’ zone to prevent vandals, fly tippers and trespassers from ruining the look of the area.  Network Rail will work closely with station staff at Bristol Temple Meads, the British Transport Police and Bristol City Council to enforce this.