New exhibit teaches children about railway dangers

A new exhibit designed to teach children about the dangers of playing near railway lines has opened after a £100,000 investment.

Leicester-based charity Warning Zone has recreated a railway crossing and installed an interactive train display.

The additional exhibit has been developed in partnership with Network Rail, East Midlands Railway and others.

Anya Caldwell, community safety manager for Network Rail, said "We are seeing videos and recordings of students messing around on these level crossings, exhibiting some really dangerous behaviour. So that's why we've sort of honed in on the Leicestershire area."

Caldwell said Network Rail was seeing "almost an escalation of the dangerous behaviour".

"We get footage of students laying down on the crossings, playing chicken with the train, shouting 'let's see who can get hit by a train'," she said.

"We're seeing students doing workouts on the crossings or putting their head underneath a train to try and put an object on the track.

"You know, these are all really worrying behaviours that can have some really serious and essentially life-threatening or potentially fatal consequences."

Warning Zone aims to create realistic scenarios to encourage children to recognise hazards and develop the confidence and decision-making skills needed to stay safe.

Based on Frog Island, several different educational areas at Warning Zone cover decision-making around water safety, cyberbullying, fires and anti-social behaviour.

It is aimed at encouraging children between 10 and 11 years to make the right decisions to keep themselves safe.

One of the zones features an electricity substation and looks at their possible risks and those of power lines.

Another focuses on dangers around alcohol, how it works on the body and how behaviours can affect the community and social responsibility.

Michael Harris, facilities and delivery manager at Warning Zone, said the new zone "is about ensuring that the rail safety messages we give to children remain relevant, memorable and grounded in the risks they may encounter in the real world."

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