Railtrack menace: boy charged after driver is injured on Blantyre route

Jun 5 2008 by Graham Fraser, Hamilton Advertiser

AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged following an incident in Blantyre which left a train driver needing hospital treatment.

On Wednesday, May 14, youths were seen near the railway bridge at Blantyre Farm Road at about 7.10pm.

A passing train travelling at 60mph then struck a heavy metal object which had been suspended from the bridge.

The windscreen of the train smashed and the 37-year-old driver was showered with glass.

The 11-year-old boy who has been charged is now subject of a report which will be sent to the procurator fiscal at Hamilton.

Detective sergeant Kevin McCormack, of British Transport Police, highlighted the dangers of route crime on the railways.

He said this week: “British Transport Police take route crime seriously and rail passengers and staff should be able to travel and work in a safe environment.”

After the incident last month, the 37-year-old driver was taken to Wishaw General Hospital for treatment to injuries to his face and eyes. He was later released.

Fortunately, he was driving a set of empty carriages at the time of the potentially fatal incident.

Last week, British Transport Police issued descriptions of three boys aged between 12 and 14 who they were keen to trace as part of the investigation.

A £1000 reward was also put up by First Scotrail to try to find those responsible.

However, police have now said they are satisfied with the investigation and are no longer looking for the youths described.

The Blantyre incident was the third in a recent spate of similar shocking crimes in Lanarkshire.

At 7.15pm on Tuesday, May 13, a train travelling at 75mph struck an object which had been suspended from overhead lines in the Dimsdale Road area of Wishaw.

Thankfully, nobody was injured.

And on Monday, May 5, a piece of cable was thrown from the same bridge in Dimsdale Road.

At 10.30pm, a train travelling between Milngavie and Lanark was damaged after hitting the cable and had to be taken out of service.