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Title: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: hoover50 on March 16, 2025, 13:19:56 https://www.newvalleynews.co.uk/news/outstanding-member-of-the-community-dies-after-being-hit-by-a-train-inquest-report/
This was such a tragic death which could have been avoided. Network Fail urgently need to fix the bridge AND improve safety at the rail crossing which has no warning lights or sirens despite having very limited visibility. I often use this crossing and express trains from Paddington come hurtling round the corner at 100mph. Once you see a train you have only three seconds to cross over. Trains should sound their horn on approach to the crossing, but they don't always do so. Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: ChrisB on March 16, 2025, 13:28:08 Awful - but the ultimate result is that the crossing will be closed.
Is it a footbridge, or a road bridge that has the fault/s? And what is the problem that needs fixing? Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: grahame on March 16, 2025, 13:46:03 https://www.newvalleynews.co.uk/news/outstanding-member-of-the-community-dies-after-being-hit-by-a-train-inquest-report/ This was such a tragic death which could have been avoided. Network Fail urgently need to fix the bridge AND improve safety at the rail crossing which has no warning lights or sirens despite having very limited visibility. I often use this crossing and express trains from Paddington come hurtling round the corner at 100mph. Once you see a train you have only three seconds to cross over. Trains should sound their horn on approach to the crossing, but they don't always do so. Thank you for posting that. I'm adding quote from that article, which reported on a coroners's hearing so that we have recorded the context here too. As the court was adjourned to a later date, no conclusion has yet been reached. Quote Pewsey is in mourning after an 82-year-old pensioner and her pet dog were killed by an express train while walking across a public level crossing. Outstanding member of the community’ Shirley Pope had been walking on the crossing because a nearby bridge she normally used 80 yards away in Pewsey, Wiltshire, was closed for urgent safety repairs. A member of the public spotted her body after the train had sped by. The bridge was shut last autumn, and the repair work had still not been carried out. Locals have said the tragedy should never have occurred. Top Wiltshire Councillor Jerry Kunkler stressed: ”This is a tragic accident. It is very upsetting. We have lost an outstanding member of our community.” [snip] British Transport Police said crime had been ruled out. [snip] An inquest at Salisbury, Wiltshire was told Shirley Pope 82 from Pewsey was walking across a public level crossing in Pewsey on February 26 [2025] when she was struck by a train. A member of the public called the police after seeing her body. She died at the scene from multiple traumatic injuries and was identified by finger prints. Death was confirmed by paramedics at 1427 hours. The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed. Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: hoover50 on March 16, 2025, 14:01:45 Awful - but the ultimate result is that the crossing will be closed. Is it a footbridge, or a road bridge that has the fault/s? And what is the problem that needs fixing? This recent video from Danny Kruger (the Member of Parliament for Pewsey) gives more context about the footbridge and rail crossing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPxV1qvviI Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on March 16, 2025, 15:15:15 An image of the crossing itself - from New Valley News:
(https://www.newvalleynews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/pewsey-level-crossing.jpg) CfN. :( Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on March 16, 2025, 19:21:31 Thank you for posting this very sad topic, hoover50.
I've simply expanded the heading, in the interest of clarity, for ease of future reference. CfN. :-X Title: Re: Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on foot crossing at Pewsey, Feb 2025 Post by: grahame on March 16, 2025, 19:57:26 To help me get my head around this, I looked up that part of Pewsey on a map. It is to the east of the village, which is to the south, with a small cluster of houses located north of the railway only accessible via Hollybush Lane and that foot crossing.
The foot crossing is at the other end of that scattering of houses, hence no picture even in Danny Kruger's video showing the relationship. (https://www.wellho.info/pix/peweast.jpg) This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |