Network
Rail
is
reminding
people
of
the
dangers
of
playing
on
or
near
the
railway
as
some
areas
prepare
for
the
school
half
term
holiday,
because
there
has
been
a
spate
of
incidents
involving
children
and
young
people
at
level
crossings.
Network
Rail
described
CCTV
images
as
‘shocking’,
because
the
cameras
have
recorded
children
taking
risks
on
level
crossings
at
Charfield
in
Gloucestershire,
Wantage
in
Oxfordshire
and
at
Toffles
foot
crossing,
which
is
near
Topsham
on
the
Exmouth
branch
in
Devon.
They
are
shown
stopping
to
take
selfies,
loitering
on
the
track
and
failing
to
check
that
no
trains
are
approaching
before
cycling
across
the
line.
East
Midlands
Railway
has
also
reported
young
trespassers
risking
their
lives
at
Bingham,
between
Grantham
and
Nottingham.

Unexplained
cable
damage
disrupts
Tyneside
services

Network
Rail
teams
are
working
to
repair
a
damaged
power
cable
in
the
Seaburn
area
which
is
affecting
National
Rail
and
Tyne
and
Wear
Metro
services.
The
damage
first
caused
problems
on
Tuesday
but
delays
have
continued,
and
Tyne
and
Wear
Metro
has
been
forced
to
reduce
its
service
between
Pelaw
and
South
Hylton
from
five
to
two
trains
an
hour.
The
cause
of
the
damage
has
not
been
revealed.

New
Network
Rail
route
director
named

Network
Rail
has
confirmed
that
acting
Sussex
route
director
Lucy
McAuliffe
has
been
appointed
permanently.
She
became
acting
route
director
last
December
following
two
years
as
the
Southern
region’s
stations
and
security
director,
and
since
then
has
been
overseeing
efforts
to
improve
reliability
on
the
Sussex
route.

Southeastern
automates
rolling
stock
inspections

Southeastern
has
signed
a
contract
with
Siemens
Mobility
and
Eversholt
Rail
to
develop
a
fully
automated
vehicle
inspection
system.
The
new
technology
will
be
installed
at
Ramsgate
depot,
and
will
use
high
sensitivity
cameras
and
optical
laser
sensors
to
collect
and
analyse
data
about
the
condition
of
the
Mainline
fleet.
AVI
will
check
each
train’s
brake
pads,
collector
shoes
and
wheel
profiles,
as
well
as
the
wheel
tread
thickness.
It
will
also
inspect
the
underframes.