Lancashire rail conductor praised for spotting two missing girls
He found them on a Blackpool to York service last week
Last updated 28th Mar 2023
A train conductor has been praised by bosses, and the police, for raising the alarm after he spotted two missing girls on a train.
Paul Wilkinson, who works for Northern, found the girls, who are both under the age of 16, on-board a service heading from Blackpool North to York last Wednesday.
He was able to confirm they had, in their words, ‘run away from home’ and immediately alerted British Transport Police.
Officers stopped the train at Leeds and looked after them.
Paul Wilkinson said: “I’ve worked on the railway for nearly 16 years and you meet hundreds if not thousands of customers every day – but through experience and training you can feel when something isn’t quite right – and you know that you need to call BTP. You should always trust your instincts.”
Chris Jackson, regional director for Northern, said: “Paul responded as any one of our staff would do when getting the sense that something wasn’t ‘quite right’ – and I applaud his actions.
“We work closely with British Transport Police to ensure the safety of everyone on-board our services – and I’m glad these young girls were found and returned home.”
In 2022, Northern began the process of training its 7,000-strong workforce in how to spot vulnerable people on the railway and have the confidence to intervene.
The training is provided by the charity ‘Railway Children’, whose work focusses on identifying individuals at risk and helping with early forms of intervention.