Transport for Wales issue school holiday rail safety warning

As schools break for the summer holidays, Transport for Wales has issued a stark warning to young people about the dangers of trespassing on railways.

No Second Chances – a rail safety campaign launched by TfW last year – has successfully reduced trespassing on the valley railway lines by 45% (latest figures from TfW Annual Report 23/24), with TfW continuing to work hard to drive down trespasser numbers.

The campaign has delivered rail safety workshops to more than 20,000 young people at 150 schools across Wales, a live exhibition in Cardiff and the valleys visited by over 750 young people, as well as flyers delivered to all homes within 200 metres of the railway, posters and social media messaging.

Concerns

TfW has also issued 500 body worn cameras to operational staff and is working with the British  Transport Police to help with anti-social behaviour concerns.

Leyton Powell, Safety, Sustainability and Risk Director at TfW said: “Trespassing on the railway is extremely dangerous and can be fatal.

“As we enter the school holiday period, we’re urging young people, their friends and families to spread this message not to take risks on or near railway lines, crossings and stations.

“Over the last 12 months our teams have been working hard delivering our No Second Chances campaign and we’ve been into schools and directly spoken with 20,000 youngsters, delivered exhibitions and produced digital videos that have been viewed over 2 million times.

“Please be aware that trespassing is not just illegal it is extremely dangerous, don’t take chances, make safe choices.”