ČD Prevention Train Starts, Spring Part Began Today in Most

16.04.2018

The successful project of České dráhy “Prevention Train for a Safe Railway” continues this year as well. The spring journey began on Monday 16 April at Most Railway Station; from there it will travel to Chomutov, Ústí nad Labem and Děčín. České dráhy has been organising the Prevention train since 2007. It is designed for pupils of primary schools and students of high schools and training institutions. In eleven years, more than 20 thousand young people from forty cities have visited this train. The national carrier cooperates on this project with well-tried partners: Správa železniční dopravní cesty and its own subsidiary, ČD Cargo.

”Social responsibility of the national carrier includes also issues of prevention on the railway. Yearly statistics of accidents are still a strong impulse for České dráhy to continue with its activities in the field of prevention. We know from practice that most accidents occur quite needlessly, in most cases due to a lack of discipline, risking and frequent situation underestimating by drivers and pedestrians. Young people of 14 – 19 years of age belong among the most endangered ones. We actively and systematically appeal to young people and by this we use a secondary effect too - by their intermediary we can influence adult people in their vicinity as well. We show them right in the railway environment the necessity to respect laws and observe basic rules of safe behaviour”, said Mr. Michal Štěpán, Member of the Board of Directors of České dráhy responsible for passenger transport.

”Thousands of students visited specially adapted coaches of the prevention train for the time of its existence. The young generation must be continuously warned of potential danger waiting on the railway. Young people often do not realise that their entire life can drastically change within a single second, e.g. during their favourite activity of climbing over detached coaches. If they pursue these activities on electrified lines they can get killed or at least suffer serious burns due to an electrical discharge from the catenary. Healing such burns may take even several months, it is quite painful and consequences in form of ugly scars never go away. That is why I am convinced that such events are quite meaningful and we will be promoting them in the future as well”, says Mr. Jiří Svoboda, Director General of SŽDC.

The Prevention Train is dispatched by České dráhy and Správa železniční dopravní cesty together with other partners.

What will young people find on the Prevention Train?

The Prevention train is based on an unconventional way of communication with young people which proved to be very useful during previous years. České dráhy together with Správa železniční dopravní cesty prepared three stations for the participants to pass through..

The first car is a special cinematic coach where visitors can see an acted documentary called “You won’t make it!” It acquaints young people with basic safety rules on the railway and in its surroundings, it provides information about risky behaviour and it draws attention to its possible fatal consequences. Although the film is fictional, it is very emotional and effective because the individual stories are based on real-life exceptional events on the railway. The motivation for the creation of the film “You won’t make it!” was mainly shocking statistics of railway accidents.

At the second station, a fire truck and firemen are waiting for students to show their work. There will be not only theory in talk; pupils and students can try providing first aid by themselves. They will experience an authentic simulation of saving a human life. Railway firemen from SŽDC with long-year experience in action during railway accidents will attend to participants.

At the final part of the project, visitors can have discussions with experts dealing with accidents on the railway. They will meet investigators of Správa železniční dopravní cesty and the Police of the Czech Republic in a conference car which is equipped with modern technology so it will not be only about empty words.

Participation in the Prevention train event is free-of-charge; all costs are borne by organisers. The objective is to accomplish the Prevention train’s mission, i.e. to warn both children and adults of dangers on the railway, to assure a drop in accidents’ and often needless disasters’ occurrence. The cycle’s length for a single group is approx. 110 – 120 minutes. The maximum group’s size (corresponds to the cinematic car’s and conference car’s capacity) is 35 students. A visit has to be ordered in advance and as we can see the interest in Ústí nad Labem Region schools is big as the dates are occupied already.

Course of train collisions with people – Ústí nad Labem Region

Course of train collisions with underage people – Ústí nad Labem Region

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