Leeds railway station hosts safety sessions for school pupils

Pupils at 15 West Yorkshire primary schools have been taught about rail safety following a spate of incidents involving youngsters.

Network Rail said 356 dangerous rail incidents had been recorded in the region since April last year – 130 of which took place in Leeds.

These included children trespassing on tracks and throwing stones at trains.

The interactive sessions held at Leeds Train Station taught around 700 pupils different aspects of safety.

Network Rail supported the sessions, working with LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry, British Transport Police and Leeds United Foundation.

Sixth year pupils from schools in the incident areas were taught how to navigate a station safely and tried their hand at the LNER train driving simulator.

Chloe Creffield, community safety manager at Network Rail, told the BBC about the incidents involving young people which took place regularly at nearby stations.

She said: “Some of them were throwing stones at the trains, standing on the edge of the platform.

“Every year, we have people who are injured or worse through these types of actions, so it’s all about them understanding their choices and the danger they’re putting themselves in.”

Gemma Sorensen, who is a teacher at Frizinghall Primary School in Bradford, said the school’s local station had lower level platforms which were easy to access.

“So it’s very important that they (students) are aware of safety,” she said.

A spokesman for the participating rail companies said they were committed to making the railway a safer place and educating students about the importance of safety.