Last week there was an earthquake in the UK. The severity of the earthquake was not high, but someone used artificial intelligence tools to fake a picture of railway bridges in the area being severely damaged by the earthquake. This picture was widely circulated on social media and attracted the attention of British Railways.
The picture shows that part of the guardrail of the railway bridge has been damaged, and there is a large amount of rubble under the bridge that looks like it has collapsed. In this case, the passage of trains may pose serious safety risks, such as the collapse of the bridge.
Based on safety concerns, British Rail immediately decided to suspend traffic on the railway bridge and arranged for an engineering team to conduct an inspection. During the inspection, some trains passing the bridge were suspended. However, subsequent inspections found that there were no safety issues with the bridge.
British Rail later said the dissemination of such false images caused ongoing confusion and completely unnecessary delays for passengers. Although the incident occurred late at night, 32 passenger or freight trains were still delayed.
British Railways said in an official statement: "Such false images add to the heavy workload of our teams, who work hard to ensure the smooth operation of the railway. The safety of passengers and employees is our top priority, and we will always take any safety issues seriously."
Fortunately, the photo spread started in the middle of the night, and there were fewer trains passing through the railway bridge. After a whole team was mobilized to inspect the bridge and it was confirmed that there were no safety issues, the railway company gradually released the suspended or delayed trains.
In addition, the British Transport Police said that they have been informed of the matter. Next, the traffic police may need to communicate with the social media platform to see if they can find the initiator of the picture. Obviously, making such prank pictures may have a certain impact on society.