THE statistics are stark... the stories behind the police figures shocking.

Two 19-year-old lads taking a short cut are mown down by a train. A man retrieving a ball is hit and a woman trying to get her mobile phone back off the tracks is killed. Another woman dies when her foot becomes trapped in the rails of a crossing whilst trying to run after her pet dog.

These heart-rending stories are not isolated incidents. The carnage goes on. Forty-three trespassers were killed last year – 24 of them at stations – the highest count in 10 years.

But Network Rail’s Martin Gallagher and his team of 10 rail crime education managers are determined to lessen the number of horror stories.

Euston-based Martin, 39, is saddened by all the pointless deaths but he is also a business realist. Trespass and vandalism are bad business for Network Rail and, in fact, every train company.

Last year more than 20,000 incidents were reported, involving everyone from dog walkers to children playing on the line, short-cutters to youths actually fighting on the tracks. In total, they cost more than £200 million in repairs to, and for new, fencing; removing graffiti; making bridges secure; manpower resources, and compensation to train companies for train delays patently not the fault of the infrastructure provider.

But Network Rail is hitting back with its growing No Messin’ campaign, which aims to encourage young people to get involved in a whole raft of interests, from boxing and football to playing computer games – instead of playing on the lines.

Funding of such activities costs Network Rail around £3 million a year, but the company knows that it is money well spent. Support comes right from the top, with chief executive Iain Coucher keen to see the campaign move onwards and upwards. 

And its success has been noted. The campaign recently won the notable Business in the Community BUPA Healthy Communities Award which is open to more than 800 companies. Known as the ‘Big Tick’, it recognises companies that work with voluntary and public sectors to improve the health and well-being of UK communities.

No Messin’ has also been shortlisted for the BITC’s Examples of Excellence Awards in July.

This summer’s campaign kicks off on 23 July with a whole new programme of activities. Many will be in areas identified as the 100 worst trouble hot-spots for trespass and vandalism in the country.

“Trespass and vandalism and all the other anti- social activities which happen on our network impact enormously on our performance as a rail infrastructure company,” says Martin.

“Last year we lost one million minutes as a result of route crime. We have to pay train companies compensation for that – even though it’s not our fault.”

But the problem is not merely a railway issue, it’s a societal one.

Once, the primary approach was for rail staff, often drivers, to visit schools and talk to children about the dangers of using the railway as a playground. That’s still the case but, today, Martin and his team are extending the reach to address a whole range of issues, including objects being placed on the line, stone-throwing and level crossing problems.

His 10 regional education managers based at Network Rail areas throughout the country are now working closely with the communities.

A study by the Home Office showed that 81 per cent of 30,000 young people in 35 of the most deprived areas of Britain had admitted to some sort of offending behaviour, such as vandalism and low-level crime.

“Anti-social behaviour spills on to the railway so we are focusing on working with a number of agencies such as community groups, local authority teams, young offenders teams and, of course, the British Transport Police to attack the problem,” said Martin. Network Rail workers also volunteer to help in all sorts of ways.

The education managers work under the auspices of the National Communities Safety Plan, which came into force in April this year. Under the plan there are also Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, with objectives that include dealing with specific railway incidents.

One of the most worrying trends is for people to use the railway as a short cut. “This can be anyone from ramblers to people just popping to their local supermarket,” says Martin.

“One problem started when someone opened up a cheap booze place and local people were taking a short cut there across the railway.

“People can be very resourceful when it comes to getting on to the railway. You put up palisade fencing – they get chairs or ladders to get over. They will even use a bridge parapet.
“But people feel you have wronged them if you take draconian measures to stop their short cuts.”

Martin’s team has been involved in many safety initiatives, from the creation in schools of Junior Rail Safety Reps – youngsters who talk to their peer groups about the dangers of trespass – to young offenders cleaning up graffiti and kids painting a mural on a rail bridge to smarten up their neighbourhood and help disparate community groups work with each other.

“Now no one touches the mural. It’s all about respect – and it’s all about giving something back to the community.”

Overall the aim is to deliver safety messages in an innovative way, creating a subliminal awareness that railways can be dangerous places.

Celebrity sports people are figuring large in helping get young people involved with activities which will fill their holiday and spare time.

One of the best known is professional boxer Amir Khan, the Olympic silver medallist who has played a key role in the opening of the Clowes Community Centre in his native Bolton. His message is: “Boxing teaches discipline – we want to get kids off the streets and the railway and it will make a difference.”

Network Rail has helped with funding of the centre and has also contributed to a similar scheme in Alloa, Scotland, which has a new station and a re-opened line.

A depressed area with many social problems, it is designated a class one regeneration area. Network Rail has helped finance boxing and wrestling clubs, and now parents are becoming supportive in active help.

“We are trying to provide as many opportunities as possible, not just to educate people to the dangers, but to provide them with the tools to help them do something better,” said Martin.

English Premiership football clubs are also involved with No Messin’, with stars such as Jonathan Woodgate and Stuart Downing helping to get the message over to children.

Doncaster Knights rugby club and top Scottish football teams such as Glasgow Rangers and Celtic also play a vital part in the process.

“This whole campaign is just brilliant for me,” said Martin, who joined Network Rail from his former job in the Prison Service.

“We are managing to take our safety message in a new direction, one that will really bear fruit.”

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