A TRAIN driver was injured when vandals hurled stones at his cab as he passed through a zone known as Boulder Pass.
He was showered with broken glass and suffered a cut ear in one of three attacks on trains this week. The Blackpool-bound tea-time train was pelted as it passed through Bolton near Moor Lane on Monday.
British Transport Police are trying to establish if the thugs who threw the stones were responsible for an attack in the same area, near the fire station a few hours earlier.
In that incident the window of the driver's cab on a train from Southport to Manchester Airport was damaged as it passed through Moor Lane. Although no one was hurt the train had to be taken out of service, causing alterations and delays.
Delays
In a third incident on Monday night, objects were thrown at a Liverpool-bound train as it travelled between Wigan and Ince Moss. No one was injured but the damage caused delays of about 15 minutes to two trains.
Insp Tony Fitzpatrick of British Transport Police said: ""A driver could be rendered unconscious as a result of a missile being thrown which could result in an extremely serious incident." Police are stepping up patrols in the areas.
Train operator Northern Rail said:"Through education programmes with the local community, we are working to combat problems of this nature."
Last year, during the school holidays, British Transport Police patrolled train routes on off-road motorbikes and used a CCTV surveillance van. This year, a team of officers has been patrolling known hotspots in a bid to catch those responsible or prevent them from striking in the first place.
Anyone with information should call police on 0161 228 5685 or 0800 405040.
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This happens so often that it is a surprise that it has made the paper as a news story. The answer is that when young vandals are caught the offence should be treated with more gravity. Bricks swung on ropes from bridges directly at the driver, Iron bars placed across running rails and rail heads painted with grease at dead end stops are not just acts of vandalism but definite attempts to injure, derail and cause collisions and should be treated as such by the courts. Maybe seeing one or two of their mates up for attempted murder perhaps might concentrate these orrible individuals minds but i doubt it.
People need to start taking responsibility (..and thus getting punished!) for the potential consequences of their actions. Throwing boulders at trains, or any other such act, should not carry a criminal damage charge - it should be attempted murder! If this stance is adopted across the board, criminals may actually fear the potential reprisals, rather than just laughing at them!