Translink reminds pupils and their parents to stay safe over Easter Break

Translink NI Railways wants to remind young people and their parents to put safety first this Easter as they enjoy the break.

Lynda Shannon, Communications Manager at Translink said, “Safety is always a priority for Translink, but this becomes especially important around the Easter break when young people often have more time on their hands and are out and about later into the evenings.

“Unfortunately this means that sometimes those who live near railway tracks can be tempted to hang around near tracks or use them as shortcuts, without knowing about the danger they could be putting themselves in.

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“Travelling by train can be a really fun way to get to where you need to go. It’s also one of the safest ways to travel and in the past year we carried over 10 million rail passengers safely to and from their homes, work and leisure.”

This year Translink ran a Schools Safety competition, challenging 11-15 year olds to devise a piece of rail safety themed drama, using music, dance or prose to deliver their message.

The winners, Loreto College Coleraine, took part in a workshop with a West End director to develop their piece further, which they will perform for friends and family later this month.

The process of getting young people to think about the potential consequences of a moment’s carelessness or bravado near rail tracks, highlighted to them the need for vigilance at all times. Some of the entries may be viewed at translink.co.uk under the corporate responsibility section.

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Lynda continued: “Translink has so far taken delivery of 13 out of its 20 new state of the art Class 4000 trains, which began arriving in Northern Ireland from Spain last year.

Part of the preparation work for the new trains is to test them on the rail network. As well as timetabled train services, these new trains are running continuously across the network at speeds of up to 90 mph and testing will be on going until the last train is in service in later this year.

All of Translink’s modern trains are much quieter than our older fleet and can be hard to hear until they are very close so it really is impossible to predict when the next train will be running along a piece of track.

“Translink wants everyone to enjoy their Easter break and remind their children, nieces and nephews and friends to stay away from rail tracks! The consequences are just not worth it – Think Safe, Stay Safe.”

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