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Scotrail – Railway Safety

Mrs Mathers

Please see below for Info from Scotrail regarding safety near railway tracks

 

As we approach the summer holidays it is important that the rail industry reminds young people about the very real danger of trespassing on railway tracks. Educating them of how they can stay safe in and around the railway is vital if we are to enable them to keep themselves safe. Britain’s railway is one of the safest and most intensively used rail networks in the world. However, incidents of trespass by children still occur – especially when children are not at school.

The rail industry has launched many campaigns and created many resources over the years, working with nurseries, schools and many youth groups across the UK but we can always do more.

Recent data has shown that  there has an alarming increase in railway track trespassing, with some routes seeing up to a 138 per cent spike in incidents.

And recent research has shown that the current trend for taking selfies in dangerous places and peer pressure from friends are most likely to see youngsters stray onto railway tracks. The survey also highlighted the following –

  • 36 per cent of the 1,000 12-17-year-olds polled said they had never spoken to their parents or guardians about the risk in stepping onto the tracks.
  • one in four 12–17-year-olds knows someone who has trespassed on a railway track
  • 19% said nobody had ever brought it up with them.
  • 41%  of 12-17-year-olds would like the dangers of track trespassing to be spoken about more openly to them
  • 35% of the 1,000 parents who were also polled admitted they had never spoken to their children about railway safety. with more than half of those (56 per cent) said it simply didn’t cross their mind to.
  • However, 75 per cent of parents and guardians surveyed via OnePoll said railway track trespassing is a topic that needs to be discussed.

As the school holidays begin, it’s our aim to do as much as we can to protect our young people from trespassing incidents on the railway. Track trespassing is a very real threat which needlessly kills those who risk their lives,  data from Network Rail showing that young people are most likely to risk their lives with 25% of fatal cases tragically under 18.

There are many resources available for schools and teachers online including the recently launched website Switched On,  enhancing rail safety education provision for children across the UK.

Switched On resources for each age group:

Other available items:-

Video campaign – You Vs Train – Network Rail

Competitions – Home – Backtrack Anti-trespassing Competition 2021 (backtrackcompetition.co.uk)

I hope you find these resources helpful, please do let us know if you use them.