PROSECUTION SOUGHT

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 10, 7 October 1943, Page 3

PROSECUTION SOUGHT

Trespassers On Railway

A request to the Railways Department to make arrangements with the police to prosecute trespassers on the railway lines between Petone and Waterloo has been made by the Wellington branch of the Enginedrivers and Cleaners’ Association. As a result of previous representations the fences, in this area were repaired, and warning notices erected at a considerable expense to tbe Railways Department. A. the same time, lectures were given to school children, with a view to warning all of the dangers of crossing the line. “The position today is that only the children have taken heed,” says a statement by the association. At different points the fences have been broken, and it is a common thing to seo women struggling with prams and cycles across the lines. Alen, youths and young women on their way to work also prefer to risk their lives by using these places as thoroughfares, regardless of the strain which is being placed upon locomotive crews’ nerves by their thoughtless actions. The most popular crossing places appear to be at the foot of the overhead ramps, which makes the action harder to understand, as an engine crew’s view is obstructed to a large degree at these points. Even the recent fatality failed to act ,as a warning, as only a few hours later tne same day people were again using this unauthorized crossing. . “Locomotive men are working long hours under adverse conditions. They resent additional strain being placed upon them, and ask that pressure be brought to bear upon these people who fail to pay heed to the warnings and precautions wliich have been made for their benefit, and that they be prosecuted and the maximum penalty enforced.