Railway trespassers caught on camera

3:58pm Monday 7th April 2008

Comments (12)   Have your say »

By Emma Cruces »

YOUNG boys were caught on camera climbing railway fences and taking a shortcut across the path of trains -- just days after a warn-ing about the dangers.

The boys, aged around ten, were snapped by an onlooker as they climbed high spiked fences alongside the Fishmoor Estate, Blackburn, before crossing the tracks close to a blind bend.

They appeared from the direction of the estate in Lower Darwen before heading in the direction of the Fernhurst pub and Mill Hill Road junction.

The Lancashire Telegraph has passed the photographs on to British Transport Police (BTP), who are now investigating.

Officers say all would-be trespassers should remember trains can be deceptively quiet and take several hundred metres to stop.

The trespassers' shortcut' took the boys several minutes of climbing and crossing, simply to avoid walking an extra 200 yards at 2.45pm on Sunday.

Neil McCombie from Rossendale was on the bridge with his girlfriend and her family, waiting to see the Cotton Mill Express, which passes through once a month from Manchester.

He said: "It was such a stupid shortcut - I couldn't believe it.

"We were gathered on a bridge over the tracks, when these two youths slowly climbed the fence, sauntered down the embankment and then ran over the railway tracks.

"There were half a dozen trainspotters on the left who also saw them crossing the tracks.

"One of the lads was already over the first fence when we spotted them, but the younger lad took an absolute age to get over.

"They knew they were being watched and didn't seem embarrassed at all.

"It's a 30mph limit on that stretch - but it's obviously dangerous.

"The corner is impossible to see around so you'd be totally relying on your ears to warn you a train was coming.

"It took them much longer than if they'd simply used the bridge."

Sgt Darren Fawcett, of BTP, said: "All too often people have been seriously injured and even killed after taking shortcuts or messing about on the railway.

"To coincide with the onset of the light nights, BTP, in conjunction with Network Rail, have been running an operation to crackdown on incidents of trespass and lineside vandalism.

"Aside from high profile patrols in known hotspots, officers have been travelling with train drivers and in Network Rail vehicles to spot potential offenders.

"Trains can't swerve or make an emergency stop - it can take them several hundred metres to stop.

"They can also be very quiet.

"People should recognise just how dangerous the railway can be and keep away from the tracks," added Sgt Fawcett.