Tackley station - facilities, services, improvements and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Residents of an Oxfordshire village where an elderly woman was killed by a train on an unmanned railway crossing had rejected offers of a underpass (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2191880.0.neighbour_in_crossing_plea.php

The news comes as Network Rail prepares to launch an investigation on Monday into the death of Tackley resident Margaret Evans, 81.

Mrs Evans was killed at Tackley level crossing after being hit by a train travelling from Dundee to Bournemouth two weeks ago.

There is no suggestion the train driver was to blame for the incident.

West Oxfordshire District Council documents show residents were consulted about the possibility of an underpass in 2002, but decided it would be out of character with the village.

Network Rail got planning permission to build a subway in 2003, but were unable to buy farmland bordering the level crossing and the plans were shelved.

However, Tackley Parish Council asked Network Rail to erect warning lights five years ago and this week there were renewed calls from a neighbour of Mrs Evans, who was nearly run down by a train on the crossing four years ago.

Frances Maxwelll, 63, of St John's Road, said she could not hear or see a the train coming and was only saved by Father Robin Gibbons who pulled her back off the line.

Network Rail said it would take about a month to complete its investigation and any improvements made would be unlikely to include warning lights.

If a train has just passed through the level crossing and stops at the station, people may mistakenly believe it is safe to cross despite the red light still showing - and may not realise the light is still at red because another train is coming from the opposite direction."

[gwr2006]

This crossing, like any other, is not dangerous if it is used properly.

Most of the users are local residents heading for the southbound platform or going for a walk or horse ride in the countryside. Familiarity clearly leads to ignoreance as I've seen people ignore the warning signs and cross when a train is approaching. No amount of signs or lights is going to stop that kind of behaviour.

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) report into the accident at Elsenham in 2005 came to the conclusion that warning lights made no difference and could increase the risk as people may not wait for the lights to change and then ignore the red light and think it is safe to cross when it isn't.  At Tackley, it is easy to see a situation where a northbound train passes but the light remains red, and people ignore that and cross only to be confronted with a train heading south at 110mph.

Interesting then that we now learn that Network Rail had a solution that was opposed by local residents who didn't want an underpass. Maybe their views will have changed in the past two weeks.

[Lee]

Photo of the crossing, taken on 28/10/2008 :



More photos can be found in the link below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3769.msg29096#msg29096

[Chris from Nailsea]

An 80-year-old Oxfordshire woman killed by a train on a level-crossing mistook the express train for a local train that stopped, an inquest has heard.

Margaret Evans was struck by the train at an un-manned crossing near her home in Tackley on 31 March.

An inquest into her death was told the pensioner mistook a 90mph (144km/h) express service from Dundee for her local train from Tackley to Oxford.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

"Margaret Evans died as a result of an accident, the circumstances being that she was struck by a train, possibly as a result of confusing the through train with a stopping train," the foreman of the jury said.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said Tackley station met safety regulations, but added that the company was carrying out a detailed assessment of the site.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7738491.stm

[Chris from Nailsea]

A more detailed report on this sad story, from the Oxford Mail, at http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3862341.Tumour_clue_on_track_tragedy/ 

[willc]

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) today released its report and recommendations following this sad accident.

Summary is here: http://www.raib.gov.uk/latest_news/090330_pn_tackley.cfm

Full report is at: http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/090330_R092009_Tackley.pdf

Local reaction is at: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/headlines/4246844.Tackley__Safety_call_for_death_crossing/

[inspector_blakey]

I don't want to sound callous, but having read this report what it boils down to is that an elderly lady with impaired hearing seems to have got confused, walked in front of a high-speed train and sadly lost her life. I don't suppose this event would have been anywhere as newsworthy if she had been run down crossing a road.

It goes back to the old chestnut (which is absolutely true) about level crossings being perfectly safe as long as they are used correctly. Unfortunately the lady does not seem to have done so and it cost her her life.

One of the recommendations is that NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should investigate the fitting of miniature "stop/go" lights for pedestrians. However, the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) makes the point that these are not likely to be very effective with passengers are in a hurry to catch a train on the up line, given that the train frequency is only two-hourly. You only have to observe the behaviour of pedestrians on pelican/puffin crossings in town (myself included) to know that the "red man" is routinely ignored if we think we can "chance it" and get across. Miniature warning lights were also ignored by the two young girls who lost their lives at Elsenham a few years ago.

[willc]

I don't suppose this event would have been anywhere as newsworthy if she had been run down crossing a road

Sorry, but that's just not true - at least not in our case in Oxford. A pedestrian died in the city centre recently in an area where roadworks are going on and we have given it just as much coverage as this case and we will be doing the inquest too. The fundamental difference is that there is no road equivalent of RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch), so the coroner has the final word in such cases.

[IndustryInsider]

A pedestrian died in the city centre recently in an area where roadworks are going on and we have given it just as much coverage as this case and we will be doing the inquest too.

And if there had been no 'roadworks' - would it have got the same coverage?

[willc]

Highly likely. Often the biggest problem with road deaths is that the police release the bare minimum of information so actually getting to the facts can be pretty difficult ahead of the inquest. In the case of the Oxford death, the family came to us, as they had serious concerns about what had happened and the safety precautions in the roadworks area, so that helped, but our own inquiries had turned up a good number of worrying questions as well.

It's to the railways' credit that there is an honest, open and transparent safety culture. By contrast, on the roads, far higher casualty figures seem to have been almost acceptable for many years - as many die on roads across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) as did at Ufton Nervet pretty much every day of the year - and often lessons aren't learned. We don't talk about accident blackspots on railways, do we?

[Chris from Nailsea]

That's a difficult one to judge, I think, because it probably depends how much 'newsprint space' is available at the time?

However, just as an example, there was a lot of coverage of the sad story of a couple run over by a bus in Bristol recently - no roadworks, but a pedestrian crossing nearby?

See http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/wdp/news/Man-dies-woman-injured-hit-bus/article-764663-detail/article.html

[IndustryInsider]

Fair enough, Will - I appreciate your honest answer. Though surely the police might not know more than the bare minimum of the facts until the inquest anyway?

[willc]

The police often know far more than the bare facts about lots of things (including road accidents, which are thoroughly investigated on the scene and afterwards to provide inquest evidence) - which they choose not to share with the people whose taxes pay them. But that's a whole other story...

[Electric train]

Have taken a quick read of the report into Tackley level crossing there were a number of things in Network Rail's control that had slipped through mainly due to the complexity of a large industry like the railways, the palisade fence obviously installed to improve public and railway safety but in its self became a safety hazard, the overgrowing vegetation, clearance is often hampered due to safety legislation which restricts staff access and working at night is often opposed by residents.  The one I find most appalling which was outside the railways control was the objection to an over bridge or underpass because "it did not fit in the rural setting" or "was unsuitable for mounted horse riders" well that actually cost the lady concerned her life.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Times:

Update: Services resume after person is hit by a train near Tackley

Normal services have resumed after a person was hit by a train between Oxford and Tackley.

Trains services between Oxford and Banbury are now running, following the incident at the Roundham crossing in Kidlington. Passengers may still face disruption on some CrossCountry services.

British Transport Police were called to the scene just before noon and officers are treating the death as not suspicious. It has not been released yet if the deceased is a man or a woman.

A BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) spokesman said: ^The incident was reported to BTP at 11.54am and was also attended by officers from Thames Valley Police. Medics from the South Central Ambulance Service attended but the person was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is currently being treated as non-suspicious and a file will be prepared for the Coroner. Officers are now working to establish the person^s identity and inform their family.^

Tickets are being accepted on Chiltern Railways and London Underground services.