Reading Festival - police issue railway trespass safety warning to revellers

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) press release:

BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE SENDS OUT TRESPASS SAFETY MESSAGE BEFORE READING FESTIVAL

British Transport Police (BTP) has issued a safety warning to revellers heading to the Reading Festival over the dangers of trespassing on the railway.

^We are carrying out patrols at the Reading station to make sure that people travelling to the festival via the railway get to the site in safety,^ said BTP^s Inspector Will Jordan.

^Unfortunately, there are those that think it is acceptable to use the railway tracks as a pedestrian crossing so that they can get to the site. Not only is this highly dangerous but if you are caught, you could be issued with a hefty fine or even face criminal charges.^

Trespassing on the railway is a criminal offence which can see the offender end up in court and result in a ^1,000 fine.

BTP are asking members of the public to be vigilant and report any incidents of trespass on the railways to BTP on Freefone 0800 40 50 40 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

[dog box]

ummhh...bit more of a challenge now as there are about 100 panels of scrap track piled 6 high right by the festival site

[willc]

Don't think they need to worry about trespassers, as, if they follow the advice on the Reading Festival page under Destinations on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website, people going to the festival will be nowhere near Reading anyway. It includes the following:

The nearest stations to this event
Station   Distance
Aldermaston   7.7 miles
Blackwater   12.9 miles
Bourne End   14.3 miles
Bramley Hants   9.7 miles
Burnham   15.3 miles

The same stations are suggested as the ones nearest to the National Waterways Festival at the weekend, which is taking place about a mile from Pangbourne station.

The FGW web team seems to have taken the week off. The hot ticket on the home page is still last weekend's Rewind Festival at Henley.

[eightf48544]

I did find this above the #Nearest Station panel.

"Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire RG1 8EQ

By Rail: Reading Station is 30 minutes from London Paddington, with late trains back every night.
By Road: M4 junction 10 from the east, M4 junction 12 from the west, then follow signs to the site."

But agree the list is bizarre to say the least.

What it shows is that websites require an aweful lot of manpower to keep up to date and that you curtail this effort at your peril and produce results like this. I couldn't find a tab, but then the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Home is awefully cluttered, to the the Festival. I did see last weeks Henley event.