Safety calls follow railway death

A mother whose daughter was killed on a railway in Kent is calling for more to be done to educate people about the dangers of the tracks.

It follows the death on New Year's Day of Sam Griffiths, 16, from west London, who was electrocuted on the railway at Burgess Hill in West Sussex.

Rachel Farrington worked with police to make a safety DVD for schools after her daughter Jade Kenyon, 17, died in 2006.

She wants more rail safety measures and the DVD to be distributed more widely.

She said: "Although kids are aware it's a dangerous place, they're not always aware how dangerous - and teenagers do take risks."

Ms Farrington said: "You can't be with your kids 24 hours.

"You don't know where they are all the time, so it really is about making the kids aware."

Ch Insp Alison Palmer, from British Transport Police, who led the inquiry after the incident in Burgess Hill on New Year's Day, also said she wanted to raise safety awareness.

She said it appeared Sam had been trespassing on the line when the incident happened and said: "Stations are not places to play on. There are 750 volts going through those rails and the rails are on 24/7."

Insp Palmer said: "We educate thousands of young people every year about the dangers of electricity on the railways.

"It's such a tragedy that we begin 2009 with the loss of a young life in circumstances that were completely preventable."

British Transport Police have said Sam slipped and fell on to the live rail while out with a group of friends.

Jade Kenyon died after she made contact with a rail while taking a shortcut home with a friend.

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