Railway bridge given colourful makeover to stop trespassing
A railway bridge in South Wigston has been given a colourful makeover in an effort to stop people trespassing on train tracks. Transport company Network Rail[1] have teamed up with the Leicestershire Craft Centre and a number of local schools[2] to redesign the bridge and turn it into a mural to promote the importance of rail safety.
There has been a significant rise in the amount of trespass and vandalism in the area, according to Network Rail, so it is hoped the project will “improve wellbeing for passengers” and boost the station’s image. Research has also shown people are “less likely” to vandalise something in the local area if it has been “created by local people”.
The mural was unveiled at a ceremony earlier on Monday, June 19, by project artist Katharine Wright and other officials from Network Rail, Leicestershire County Council[3] and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council. School pupils from Wigston Academy, South Wigston High School and Glen Hills Primary School who had contributed to painting of the mural, were also in attendance.
Speaking at the event, Network Rail’s Operations Director, Steve Hopkinson said: “This mural is the culmination of two years of hard work. We’ve had problems in South Wigston for a number of years now with trespass and vandalism on the railway and obviously that is a really serious thing for us. The safety of people, both on trains or in and around the railway[5], is the most important thing we do, so some people came up with the idea that this bridge doesn’t look that amazing, why don’t we paint it and use the local community to design it and make it a nice place to be.
“We see all round the country that when we do community projects like this that because people are involved in it and it’s their bridge, it makes it more of a location where people feel less inclined to trespass and vandalise on the thing’s local people have created. So hopefully it will really reduce the number of incidents we see in South Wigston.”[6]
Cases of trespassing are worryingly common across the UK and in Leicestershire. Children were found to be playing on live train tracks in Syston last month, which resulted in a train having to make an emergency stop[7] and was the third incident to take place in recent weeks.
Steve Hopkinson, Network Rail’s Operations Director, speaking at the event
Mr Hopkinson added: “I cannot stress enough how dangerous a place the railway is. To trespass on railway tracks, railway lines is a very dangerous thing to do. We see people lose their lives through those events, from not looking, from not using levelling crosses and bridges. I would encourage people to not do this but to also encourage their families, friends not to. People use them sometimes for shortcuts, and sometimes there is a natural attraction of doing something mischievous. People lose their lives and we have to stop this behaviour.”
People who are caught trespassing can be left with a criminal record and face a fine of up to £1,000. Previous data from Network Rail has shown that 25 per cent of fatalities involving railway trespassing happen to those aged under 18.
After cutting the red ribbon to officially unveil the mural, artist Katharine Wright told LeicestershireLive[8] it has been a project which took months of planning. She said: “My role as the artist was to take all the artwork from the local school children and collated it together and put in the backgrounds and drawn it all up on the bridge. It’s been a very big project, we were painting for two weeks and been such a positive, fun experience.
“The children have been absolutely lovely to work with, it’s been lovely to see, and nice for them to come see their artwork on the bridge and get all excited. The bridge brightens the whole area up now, it makes you feel positive as you walk over it and it is going to make local people hopefully feel better about the area. I don’t have a favourite part of it, it changes every time I see it and am very proud of it all.”
References
- ^ Transport company Network Rail (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ number of local schools (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ Leicestershire County Council (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ A day in the life of Leicester (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ trains or in and around the railway (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ in South Wigston.” (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ a train having to make an emergency stop (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ LeicestershireLive (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)