Network Rail has teamed up with British and World 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene to ‘warn young men’ about the dangers of taking short cuts across rail tracks.
Nearly 50 people have been killed after taking shortcuts and trespassing across the railway tracks in the last year, according to Network Rail.
Network Rail said 88% of accidental trespass fatalities in the last ten years were male with over a third aged 16-25.
Dai appears in an online video, part of a new campaign launched called ‘Track Tests’.
Dai is given a realistic but unusual running test – across the tracks – but it’s not as easy as it seems, even for a top athlete at the peak of his condition.
It’s dark, there’s grease on the line, unexpected trip hazards and it’s raining. It aims to illustrate that if a fit, agile athlete used to leaping high hurdles at speed, is unable to get out of the way of a train travelling at 80mph, then you won’t either.
Dai Greene explained why he was keen to get involved with this new campaign:
“Day in day out, I train hard to make sure I am as quick as I can be. On the running track it’s important that my reactions are lightning fast but on the train track – during filming – that didn’t count for much.
“The experience has brought to life just how many dangers there are on the rail tracks – most of which I knew nothing about. I hope that this film really helps Network Rail to show people that taking the risk is never worth it.”
