Person hit by train at Thatcham - 13 March 2012

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From FGW^▸ (First Great Western) JourneyCheck:

Line problem: at Thatcham. Following a person hit by a train earlier at Thatcham some lines are affected.

Train services running through this station are now running normally.

Road transport running between Newbury and Theale until 10:00.

Message Received: 13/03/2012 09:30

09:22 Newbury to Reading due 09:54 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

05:53 Plymouth to London Paddington due 09:00 This train will be delayed at Reading and is expected to be 33 minutes late.
This train will be diverted between Taunton and Reading.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

07:06 London Paddington to Paignton due 10:19 This train will be delayed at Westbury and is expected to be 6 minutes late.
This train will be diverted between Reading and Westbury.
This train will no longer call at Newbury and Pewsey.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

09:36 Bedwyn to London Paddington due 10:56 This train will be started from Newbury at 09:53.
This train will no longer call at Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury.
This is due to a person hit by a train.
Message Received:13/03/2012 09:10

[grahame]

Here's one of the 125s on diversion ...



... and passing some very surprised passengers at our town's station, who were waiting for the 07:20 ...



... which turned up 20 minutes late:

[BerkshireBugsy]

From FGW^▸ (First Great Western) JourneyCheck:

Line problem: at Thatcham. Following a person hit by a train earlier at Thatcham some lines are affected.

Train services running through this station are now running normally.

Road transport running between Newbury and Theale until 10:00.

Message Received: 13/03/2012 09:30

09:22 Newbury to Reading due 09:54 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

05:53 Plymouth to London Paddington due 09:00 This train will be delayed at Reading and is expected to be 33 minutes late.
This train will be diverted between Taunton and Reading.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

07:06 London Paddington to Paignton due 10:19 This train will be delayed at Westbury and is expected to be 6 minutes late.
This train will be diverted between Reading and Westbury.
This train will no longer call at Newbury and Pewsey.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

09:36 Bedwyn to London Paddington due 10:56 This train will be started from Newbury at 09:53.
This train will no longer call at Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury.
This is due to a person hit by a train.
Message Received:13/03/2012 09:10

Always sad when this happens but as this in my home station literally a bit close to home

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed, BerkshireBugsy. 

From getreading:

Man struck by train near Thatcham

A dog walker reported seeing a man being hit by a train in Thatcham at 6.33am today.

British Transport Police found a body on the line close to the Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre.

The dead man has not been identified yet and anyone who has any information should call the police on 0800 405040.

Buses will replace the rail services between Reading and Newbury adding around 30 minutes to journey time.

Services between London and Plymouth and Exeter are being diverted via Swindon adding 40 minutes to journey times. Services between Reading and Theale are running normally.

[chineseJohn]

from Newbury Today - they need to proof read their articles - reported as occurred at 07:00, Police were called at 06:33

RUSH-hour passengers are experiencing heavy delays this morning (Tuesday) after a person was hit by a train near Thatcham.

The incident, which occurred at 7am, meant there were no trains running through Newbury and Reading, although a bus service was quickly put in place.

One line was re-opened at 8.20am, and a train service is running between Theale and Reading, however the disruption has caused problems on the line from trains running from Exeter and Plymouth all the way through Swindon to London.

As of 10am both lines were re-opened.

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)), Simon Letouze, said: ^BTP officers were called to the line close to Thatcham Lakes on Tuesday, March 13, following the report of a man being struck by a train.

^Officers from BTP and Thames Valley Police attended the incident which was reported to police at 6.33am and is currently being treated as non-suspicious.

^Paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service also attended, but the man, believed in his thirties and from the local area, was pronounced dead at the scene.^

The line was handed back to Network Rail at 8.20am.

[BerkshireBugsy]

As the place where this sad incident took place is less than a mile from where I live I know thie foot crossing well. It is a popular dog walking route from thatcham lakes to the canal footpath.

The crossing is located on a curve in the track and if one is crossing from the southern side there isn't much of a view of any oncoming train especially from the eastern (thatcham station) direction.

I believe the police were called at about 630 but I do remember when I arrived at thatcham station at 530 the level crossing barriers (less than a mile from where this happened) were down and an empty multi dmu pass through at high speed.

So I guess what I am saying there is a possibility this was a tragic accident rather than suicide but I my sympathy goes out to any relatives and of course the train driver.

[chineseJohn]

Also it was very foggy yesterday morning...... visibility wasn't great

[BerkshireBugsy]

I'm not sure I would allow my children (7 and nearly 13) to use this particular crossing without adult assistance and I have to be honest when I went home last night I told them about the incident and used it as a reminder that crossings of all types need to be treated with respect.