Railway vandals

Hundreds of passengers suffered delays late on June 5 after two Southeastern Class 395s hit items thrown onto the track at Gravesend, Kent.

The trains hit a pushchair and bicycle that had been thrown from a bridge in two separate incidents. Both items had to be removed from the trains that struck them, meaning passengers on board were trapped.

More than 20 trains were delayed and four were cancelled. Network Rail said that 1,100 delay minutes were caused by the vandalism.

“Both incidents could have been much more serious, and it’s sheer luck that nobody was hurt,” said Network Rail South East route crime manager Alice Morton. “I would appeal to anyone who thinks this sort of stunt is funny to think again.”

A Southeastern spokesman said: “It is clearly unacceptable and potentially dangerous to throw items onto a railway track, and we can’t stress enough how this causes unnecessary delay to our passengers.”

The first incident involved an empty pushchair hit by the 2020 Ramsgate-St Pancras International at 2143. The train was able to continue its journey at 2300 after the pushchair was removed.

The second incident involved the 2129 Faversham-St Pancras International, already delayed from the earlier incident. It hit a bicycle that became jammed under the train in the same location. Trains began running at 0042 on June 6, and the train arrived in the capital 157 minutes late.

The BTP is investigating. Anyone with information should send a text to 61016 or call 0800 405040 quoting reference 459 05/06/2016. Information can also be passed anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.