Two ten-year-old boys have been arrested and cautioned for throwing stones at a train in Shipley, injuring a 49-year-old man from the Nab Wood area. British Transport Police say this sort of hooliganism can have even more serious consequences. Robert Sutcliffe looks at why children have a fascination with railways and what can be done to prevent their dangerous obsession.

VANDALISM ON Britain's railways is a serious business. Each year it is responsible for 56 per cent of all train damage and for train delays of more than 11,500 hours due to line obstructions.

Last year the death toll from incidents connected with trespass on the railways was a staggering 122 lives while 149 people sustaining injuries including loss of limbs and severe burns.

In the Bradford area there were 78 reported incidents between April 1999 and April 2000 with 44 of them taking place in the Shipley area alone, ranging from trespass to vandalism.

Railtrack continually campaign against the dangers of trespass and vandalism but says it can be depressing how frequently its warnings are ignored.

Measures taken by the company to combat this include the use of a helicopter to catch trespassers in action - Operation Skyhawk - and Operation Scarecrow which entails patrolling blackspots with front line railway staff with British Transport Police.

Last month Railtrack launched its Track Off poster campaign in a bid to combat vandalism and trespassing on the li nes.

More than 500 schools a year are targeted for visits and a powerful educational drama I Dare You aimed at 11-12-year-olds has already been seen by 100,000 schoolchildren.

One person who wishes he had heeded the warnings is John Walker, 16, of West Royd, Shipley, who was blasted by 25,000 volts of electricity after falling onto overhead railway cables near Thackley Old Road, Shipley.

Sergeant Michael Johnson, from British Transport Police, said the boys involved - two ten-year-olds and a nine-year-old - were standing on the Thackley Old Road side of the footbridge at Dockfield Lane and were about 15 yards away from the train.

"I can only surmise that it's a mixture of peer pressure and a bit of danger and excitement that attracts them, and the thrill of trying to hit a moving target as you might do at a fairground," he said.

Dr Siobhan Hugh-Jones, lecturer in Developmental Psychology at Leeds University, said: "It sounds like they were very bored, a simple case of there not being enough alternatives. They are not getting enough stimulation in their immediate environment. I think it is a very stereotypical thing - something that males do, involving a competitive element, trying to see who can hit the best. There would also be an element of risk that would attract them. It's very unusual for girls. "

Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Shipley, David Senior, said: "The solution is to get tough on young vandals. Youngsters laugh at cautions. When victims are put at risk of serious injury we should prosecute even where it is a first offence."

T&A Opinion

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