Brickfields level crossing stays shut after children caught taking risks on the tracks

Network Rail has shut Brickfields level crossing in east London after engineers watched children and teenagers doing handstands on the tracks and dashing across the line to beat oncoming trains.

The crossing closed on 30 September for 21 days. Network Rail said it will not reopen until the problem has been addressed and action has been taken.

Why Network Rail closed Brickfields level crossing

The behaviour came to light during a recent survey of the crossing. Young people were seen walking on the anti-trespass boards and picking up the crossing phones. Some sprinted over the line to get ahead of approaching trains, and others played “chicken” with them. Network Rail said around 230 trains pass through Brickfields every day, at all times of day and night.

Shenel Bullcock, who manages health and safety on the Anglia route, admitted the closure “may inconvenience some local people”. The risks, she said, were too serious to ignore, and the pause would give Network Rail the chance to assess what further measures were needed to keep people safe.

She urged parents and teachers to keep repeating the safety message to children. “Every railway safety conversation could help prevent a tragedy,” she said.

Railway safety talks in local schools

Every year group at local schools has now had a presentation on the dangers of messing about near railway lines, according to Network Rail.

Earlier this year the company ran its No Second Chances campaign, which urged people to stop and think before crossing the railway. Network Rail described the behaviour at Brickfields as an unacceptable safety risk, both to the young people involved and to staff and passengers on the railway.