Overview
- Network Rail Anglia temporarily shut Brickfields crossing after survey footage showed children and teenagers doing handstands, racing trains, walking on anti‑trespass boards and deliberately playing ‘chicken’ with oncoming trains.
- The crossing, first closed on September 30 for an initial 21 days, remains shut while Network Rail and the British Transport Police investigate the misuse and deliver school presentations.
- About 230 trains pass the Brickfields crossing each day, a high volume that officials say makes the stunts particularly dangerous and prompted the closure as a risk‑management step.
- A signed diversion route via Nightingale Avenue, Moore Lane, Front Lane and St Marys Lane is in place for local traffic while partners run education sessions and consider further safety measures.
- Network Rail has linked the action to its No Second Chances safety campaign and is urging parents, carers and teachers to reinforce rail‑safety messages and report dangerous activity to British Transport Police.