Northamptonshire pupils taught about new overhead electric wires

Railway staff gave safety lessons to children before the new overhead power lines were switched on.

Network Rail, which owns Britain’s rail infrastructure, said staff had been involved in holding “safety meetings” at a number of primary schools in Northamptonshire.

The session was part of the railway company’s preparations for the switch-on of overhead lines between Kettering in Northamptonshire and Wigston in Leicestershire.

Network Rail said 25,000 volts would soon be running through 36km of newly installed overhead lines, powering new trains.

Network Rail said in a statement: “Britain’s railways are among the safest in the world, but Network Rail’s message to schoolchildren has been that from Sunday 28 July the overhead wires will be ‘always on!’ and that they can be deadly.

“Safety assemblies have been delivered to Kettering at Millbrook Primary School, Barton Seagrave Primary School and Rushton Primary School.

“The children were warned of the dangers of trespassing, as trains travel through the area at speeds of up to 200 km/h.”

Hayley Manners, Network Rail’s Community Safety Manager in the East Midlands, added: “The railway through Northamptonshire and Leicestershire will see big changes in the coming weeks and it is vital that we teach children the importance of staying safe when around them.

“The Midlands Main Line is a major artery linking Sheffield and Nottingham, through the East Midlands, and on to London St Pancras, with hundreds of trains a day passing through Kettering.

“It is extremely dangerous to enter the railway network, but there will soon be live power lines overhead, which adds an additional risk to people who misuse the railway.”

In June 2023, the family of an 11-year-old boy who was electrocuted in a train depot six years earlier urged parents to teach their children about rail safety.

Harrison Ballantyne died on June 27, 2017 after entering the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal to retrieve a football.