Play-fight boy dies on rail line (BBC News)
 

A teenager is killed when he falls on a live railway line during a play-fight with friends, police have said.

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This shows the dangers of the railways but why wasnt there adequate fencing to stop youths from getting onto the line in the 1st place?

you dont need adequate fencing...you need adequate Parants who teach their children little things like"don't trespass on the railway" especially electrified ones....

Having said that, my sympathy to the family on their loss.

I agree with your centiments there.

It is even more basic than that. Play fighting regularly leads to all sorts of problems. Fortunately normally without fatal consequences.

At present I work in a pupil referal unit and play fighting is banned because it causes so many problems.

This might sound harsh, but I can't help feeling that part of the problem lies with the low esteem that railways are held in these days.

These kids don't seem to realise that a railway can be a dangerous place for those with little experience of it. And they don't get the experience anymore, thanks to the fascination with the motor car. :(

I think you're right Trev. Because many kids have little or no experience of public transport I think they tend to regard buses and trains in the same way. What's the big problem?.......the driver will stop before he/she runs me over. As for electrified rails, I doubt if many kids know they even exist.

'Playing on the tracks' has been a pastime for many years,
I remember I hesitate to call them Train Spotters (1950s talk) waiting to hear an A4 whistle before running across the tracks. This was at Hatfield just where the accident was a few years ago. Right on the bend was the preferred 'crossing' place and if I remember correctly there were at that time 6 tracks to cross. Thankfully I never heard of any accidents but in those days they never caught the headlines much anyway. I hate to think of how the poor drivers felt to see these people running across in front of them.
Things do not really change much over the years.
John (G)