From the
Swindon Advertiser:
Trains held up by fears for woman
Train passengers suffered hour-long delays yesterday afternoon after a train driver spotted a woman lying next to rail tracks.
There had been initial concerns the woman had been struck by a passing train but emergency services arrived and found this was not the case.
The woman was described as being in a vulnerable state and was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for an examination.
British Transport Police were called shortly before 1pm to track near the village of Grove, between Swindon and Didcot.
A spokesman for British Transport Police said: ^We received a call at 12.39pm following reports of a person lying by the trackside near Grove, close to Wantage. It was initially feared she had be hit by a train but the woman had no injuries so was taken to hospital for a check-up.
^The line was closed for a short period of time whilst we dealt with the incident but shortly after we handed control back over to Network Rail.^
Thames Valley Police were also called to the scene, along with paramedics and an air ambulance.
The incident meant the key rail route was closed for several hours leading to delays into the afternoon while trains caught up.
Hold-ups continued into the rush hour as First Great Western attempted to bring the services back into line.
Shortly after 5pm, a tweet was put out by the rail company reading: ^Due to emergency services dealing with an incident earlier, services between Didcot and Swindon are delayed by up to 20 minutes.^
The incident compounded problems for First Great Western on that line as over-running engineering works before Bristol Temple Meads meant part of the track was closed for an hour first thing in the morning.
A replacement bus service was put on but there were continued delays stretching down the line throughout the day.
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