Lives put at risk by railway vandalism

Lives put at risk by railway vandalism

11 May 2016

VANDALS who deliberately tampered with a railway line in Downpatrick last week could have derailed a train carrying passengers and left those who run the service with a major repair bill.

Officials with the Downpatrick and Co Down Railway were carrying out a routine inspection ahead of last Monday’s May Day bank holiday train service when they discovered a metal bar wedged between switches on the line near Inch Abbey.

The inspection took place ahead of a series of trips with up to 90 passengers expected to use the line which links Inch Abbey with the heritage railway’s man station in Lower Market Street.

Train driver, Mike Beckett, said the trip “could have ended badly,” confirming the inspection averted what he described as a “serious incident.”

He continued: “It could have been quite scary, people would have been thrown around or worse,” he said, confirming trips did go ahead after the rail line was cleared.

“The show went on as scheduled. No one was any the wiser,” continued Mr Beckett. “We’re volunteers, but we’re trained and have experience. We always check the line before the public are due to travel on it.”

The official explained that it was during a pre-trip check that he noticed the rail line had been interfered with. He said a small metal bar had created a gap of two inches between the rails.

“That’s big enough to have caused a derailment,” the driver said. “There would have been injuries or worse. Even without injuries, the damage to the vehicle would’ve been terrible. You cannot replace these trains. We’re volunteers, so anything that is damaged or needs replaced comes out of our own pockets.”

Mr Beckett, who has been volunteering at the railway for almost four years, said he had never seen vandalism of this kind before.

“We’ve had various low-level vandalism over the years but this is the first time I’ve seen deliberate interference with the rails. Disappointed is how I’d sum up our feelings on it.” he added.

The heritage railway’s vice-chairman, Robert Gardiner, said the organisation’s safety procedures meant there was no danger to the public.

“A metal bar was wedged in between the switches and the point lock removed, meaning that the points were not engaged which could in a worst-case scenario lead to a derailment. Fortunately, due to our safety system in use before every public running day, the track is manually inspected,” he inspected.

Robert added: “This sabotage was discovered prior to any trains running and remedied as a matter of course. There was no risk to either train crew or members of the public at any time.”