POLICE are to travel with train drivers in a new bid to crack down on rail crime.

Transport police will have radio links from the cab to uniformed officers who will swoop to arrest the trackside vandals.

The warning comes after another incident on the vandal-plagued East Lancashire line when concrete blocks were placed on lines between Accrington and Church stations.

Police said the train could have been derailed and passengers killed.

The train was damaged but managed to continue its journey.

Special "Q" trains are already operating on the line where plain clothes officers travel as passengers and are able to pinpoint vandal blackspots.

And with school holidays starting, transport police bosses are warning youngsters to keep away from railway lines.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The trains will run during the school holidays and afterwards.

"We have caught quite a number of culprits already.

"Railway vandals face huge fines or the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and recently a man was fined £480 just for crossing the line."

He revealed that a train that hit an obstruction in Burnley last month needed £20,000 worth of repairs.

People can use a special phoneline from July 21 (0800 405040) to report railway crime.

British Transport Police also have a 24-hour service (0161 228 5999).

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