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Description

Learn all about electricity at the railway as you move your way through this quick obstacle course.

Resources

Chalk, masking tape, cones or ropes
Foam football
Obstacles (optional)

Instructions

Setting up the course
Use chalk, masking tape, cones or ropes to make the course. Mark a path using two lines, with enough space between them for young to dribble a football down. One line will represent the overhead lines (alternating current/AC) and one line represent the third rail (direct current/DC).
The course path can be made harder with narrow turns and bends, or it could be kept simple with one straight, wide path.
Make sure the path is accessible for everyone in your group. For example, it may need to be wider for mobility aids.
Running this activity
Explain that there are two big electrical dangers on railways: overhead lines and the third rail.

Overhead lines hang above the train tracks and carry AC (alternating current). Overhead lines carry 25,000 volts of electricity (100 times stronger than household power) and can arc (jump) up to three metres through the air. You don’t have to touch them to get hurt.

The third rail, which runs along the ground beside the track and carries DC (direct current). It carries 750 volts and is hard to spot. Touching it can cause serious burns, nerve damage, or even death. The electricity is so powerful it can hold you in place.

Play the game
Explain that you’re going to play a game where you need to try to move around a ‘train station’, while staying safe and avoiding the electricity.
Ask if anyone knows any ways we can keep safe at a railway station and near railway lines. You can find some answers on this page.
Ask everyone to get into teams.  There should be a course and a ball for each team.
People should dribble the football through the course, without the ball or themselves touch the sides.
Once they’re finished, they need to take the ball back to the next person.
You could demonstrate the course, so people know what they’re doing.
You could also use a smaller ball and a hockey stick for people to use to dribble the ball through, instead of a football.
Someone should be note down any time a team touches the sides. You could send them back to the start or offer a time penalty for each touch.
Someone else should also be timing each group and writing down the times.
Once everyone’s ready, the first person for each team can go.
At the end, tell everyone which team completed it the fastest. Make sure to include any time penalties for touching the sides if you’re doing it this way.
Remember, this game is just for fun—it’s not a real-life example. Railways are dangerous if we’re not careful. Trains move fast, tracks can be electrified, and people are seriously injured or killed every year. Never trespass, never play near tracks, and never touch overhead lines or the third rail. The electricity is always on—stay safe and stay away!

Reflection
Ways to stay safe near railways and railway stations
Some things we can do are:

Never trespass on a railway. It’s illegal. Trespassing includes stepping off a level crossing onto an area where you shouldn’t be, picking up lost property from the tracks, crossing the tracks at any point other than at a level crossing or taking a walk down the side of the railway track
Keep away from the platform edge. Stay behind the marked yellow/white platform edge lines whilst waiting on the platforms.
Make sure you apply the brakes to prams and strollers, and always position them parallel to the tracks.
Always walk around a train station, never run.
Hold the handrail and concentrate on your footing.
Keep yourselves and others safe by reporting any unusual items or activity on the railway.
Take extra care getting on and off a train and mind the gap.
Never go near the overhead power lines.
Never play on or near the train tracks, including never walking on or near them.
Never throw anything onto the tracks or at the lines.
Wait at and use level crossings to cross railways, following the signs.
Stay with your grown up at the station.
Never pick up or rescue anything from the tracks or near them, even if you dropped it. If you drop something on the track, leave it and contact a member of staff.

Tags

• railway
• safety
• train

Badge Links

• Safety - Crossings