Rail safety initiative to be launched following tragic electrocution of 11-year-old schoolboy

A rail safety initiative is to be launched almost six years on from the tragic death of an 11-year-old Northamptonshire student.

In June 2017, Harrison Ballantyne was hit by 25,000 volts of electricity at a rail freight depot and he sadly died at the scene.

The schoolboy, from Crick, climbed onto a stationary freight wagon after losing a football and received a fatal electric shock from an overhead cable.

Harrison was on the way home from his school, Guilsborough Academy, with five friends at the time – but there was nothing they or paramedics could have done to save him.

Despite having no direct contact with the power lines at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, the 11-year-old was hit by 25,000 volts of electricity.

The initiative is being launched this Friday (March 31) by Guilsborough Academy, Harrison’s mother Elizabeth Ballantyne and a number of other organisations – including Live Learn, Network Rail, the British Transport Police, Colas Rail and other parents.

As rail safety is currently not on the national curriculum, all parties are fighting to see greater education on the matter for young people across Northamptonshire and the entire country.

Following Harrison’s tragic electrocution, his parents set up the Harrison Ballantyne Foundation and in October 2022, the 11-year-old’s story was shared as part of the national You vs Train campaign.

It aimed to educate people about the dangers, both obvious and hidden, that are present on the railway and deter trespassing.

Talking about the launch of the new initiative this Friday (March 31) Simon Frazer, the principal at Guilsborough Academy, said: “We want to encourage as many schools as possible to include rail safety in their curriculum, and to see it introduced nationally.

“Harrison tragically lost his life while was playing. He wasn’t doing anything malicious.

“Safety is our number one concern for all children, both in and out of school. Safety education is so important and we want to take the opportunity to teach our students.”

In supporting Harrison’s mother Elizabeth, Guilsborough Academy hopes to see other schools follow suit.

“We don’t want to lose anyone else from our community,” added Mr Frazer.

The school’s personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education covers rail safety, as well as the fact it is regularly spoken about with students.

However, the principal says it is very difficult to have a national impact without the involvement and support of other schools – not just across Northamptonshire, but up and down the country.

Guilsborough students have played a part in designing the logo for the initiative and the launch of it altogether, particularly those who grew up with Harrison.

At the time of the incident, Mr Frazer says the school sent their “thoughts and prayers to friends and family, and supported everyone as best they could”.

“We did a lot of work around his memory and now hold annual football matches for charity,” he added.

The principal also wanted to thank Chris Heaton-Harris, the Conservative MP for Daventry, for the work he has done in making the ongoing campaign work “seen and heard”.