Warning over live wires on local rail routes

Safety testing ahead of the launch of electric trains later this year will see overhead wires carrying 25,000 volts of electricity.

They pose a potentially fatal threat to those who trespass on the tracks or accidentally make contact with overhead lines,

Iain McFarlane, Network Rail’s delivery director for the Stirling- Dunblane-Alloa electrification, said: “The overhead power lines we have installed carry 25,000 volts of electricity – enough to kill anyone who comes into contact with them.

“Energisation is an important phase of work to test and validate the new equipment and ensure it is operating as it should.

“As well as ‘live testing’ the equipment, the energisation phase of the work is critical to ensuring the safe introduction of the electric trains that will operate on the route from December.

“Electrification also marks a significant change to the railway in terms of risk for those living or working nearby so it is important we do what we can to make people, particularly young people, aware of this change and encourage them to stay safe”.

He added: “Electric trains will be quieter and accelerate faster than the diesel ones they replace.”

As well as more than 40,000 safety leaflets being delivered through every door in lineside communities, and messages online through social media, Network Rail has worked with industry partners in schools and through local groups to spread the word.

The range of resources available to highlight the changes includes Rail Life, an initiative aimed at young people which provides teachers and parents with a range of resources on rail safety issues.

Further information can be found at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-in-the-community/safety-education/