Remember when a crew member was killed by a train while filming "Midnight Rider" in Georgia?
Perhaps these folks didn't hear about that tragedy. This bride and groom took wedding pictures while standing on railroad tracks. England's rail service says there have been significant increases of trespassing on railway tracks putting people in harm's way.
Getting hit by a train isn’t a wedding day tradition, right? The operators of the largest railway-infrastructure network in the U.K., called Network Rail, are publicly shaming a bride and groom who posed for wedding photos on its tracks. In a news release Monday (October 19th) Network Rail, which operates 20,000 miles of railway track, noted, “Newly released figures […] show that there were 5,100 trespass incidents over the summer months, with the total number of incidents recorded in September 2020—1,239—the worst recorded month in the past five years.” They partially blame the easing of lockdowns as the cause, noting that the bulk of offenders are adults. They also released photos of recent trespassers, including a photo of a bride and groom posing on the tracks. Allie Spence, the head of Passengers & Public Safety for Network Rail said, “Wedding photos or selfies on the track are just plain stupidity.”
Network Rail partially blames the easing of lockdowns as the cause, noting an uptick in instances in both August and September — the first such uptick observed in three years for those particular months. More specifically, Network Rail claims adults make up the bulk of offenders, likely thanks to a “You vs. Train” campaign it launched in 2018, warning younger citizens of the dangers of youth trespassing. (see video below)