78 people were prosecuted for safety related incidents on Northern Ireland's rail network between July 2013 and July 2014, amounting to £17,500 in fines, according to Translink.

The majority of offences were due to motorists ignoring warning signals at level crossings or attempting to 'beat the barrier' at a level crossing, the company said.

Ian Campbell, Head of Rail Operations at Translink, said: "While the overall number of safety related incidents in the past 12 months is comparable to previous years, the total cost to offenders has more than doubled in the past year.

"With an average cost of around £225 and the largest amount being £669, these are significant amounts of money for an average motorist. Coupled with the potential of penalty points being applied to the driving licences of offenders, increased insurance policies and potential coverage in local media, these should all serve as strong deterrents to potential offenders.

"We believe these prosecution results represent positive and proactive cooperation between the PSNI and Translink NI Railways and are appropriate for the seriousness and potentially devastating consequences of the misuse of level crossings. Our CCTV cameras which are located at the majority of crossings throughout the network capture high quality footage which has been successfully used as evidence in several level crossing misuse prosecution cases."

(IT/CD)