Railway lines act as "a magnet for bored children", rail operator c2c has said. However the firm, which operates the line linking Shoebury and Fenchurch Street, is playing a vital role in deterring young people from playing on the tracks.

Every year bored children are drawn like magnets by the daredevil allure of railway tracks.

Safety bosses have stepped up their campaign because of the school holidays and are keen to get across the message of how young lives could be lost by needless fooling around.

Barry King, a former train guard who is all too familiar with the tragic truth behind such careless acts of railway trespass, has devoted his life to teaching kids that a railway line is not a playground.

Barry, who lives with his wife and children Stacey, nine, Daniel 14, and Steven, 17, has worked as c2c's crime and community manager for four years after having worked as a train guard for seven years.

He said: "A no nonsense approach works best. I don't come in with an authoritative attitude. That way the kids really listen."

His teaching technique varies with his audience.

For the younger children, Barry brings in a miniature c2c train which he rigs up on its own track for the children to ride on.

For older children Barry shows hard hitting videos and mock-up scenarios of the dangers of trespassing on tracks. It is followed by a question and answer session.

He said: "I find it very difficult to drag myself away. The children ask some really amazing questions."

However he said: "The older children think they know it all and it's harder to get through to them."

Ray Huggett, who helps Barry on some of his tours, praised his colleague's technique.

He said: "I think he's brilliant. He uses modern street talk and is just really down to earth with the kids."

Barry's work extends beyond the classroom. He has taken underprivileged children out for the day on c2c trains including a trip to the National Gallery for Tilbury children at Manor School. There is a relationship of trust between Barry and the children he meets.

Many trouble-making teenage "regulars" will ask to speak to Barry each time they are caught on the lines.

He said: "No-one is born like that. It all starts at home and schools are very restricted as to what they can do about it."

Having witnessed the damage that can be done to the lives of victims involved in railway accidents, Barry is uncompromising in what he tells the children.

He said: "I basically tell them that when someone is hit by a train, everything that was inside the body hangs out."

However he is graphic too in his descriptions of the effects such accidents can have on the lives of the train drivers involved.

He said: "It happens at least once to most drivers and they never get hardened to it. They suffer flashbacks, mood swings and family break-ups. Many just walk away and never come back."

Last year a young girl left a note on a train telling whoever found it that she was going to commit suicide in front of the 6pm London-bound Shoebury train at Basildon. She was about to be made redundant and had split up with her boyfriend.

Station staff were alerted and at 5.55pm she was called on the platform speaker asking her to go to the station office.

Fortunately she turned up and after discussions with staff, Barry was instructed to accompany her back to Waterloo by taxi.

He said: "I told her that for her it would be over in seconds but for the driver it would be with him for life. I think she changed her mind after that."

Barry believes that due to privatisation and the ensuing fragmentation of train companies, rail safety education measures have suffered.

He said:"We should all work together to stop these tragic accidents. I just want to carry on doing what I am doing now because it works."

Graphic talks - Barry with his model train

Picture: MIKE BELLENIE

By Diana Milne

Reporter's e-mail: Diana.Milne@notes.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.