Luxulyan village home lit up like 'a football pitch', complains resident

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Cornish Guardian:

My village home lit up like 'a football pitch'


Bob Hatton in his garden, lit by the train station, at Bridges Mill, Luxulyan.

Living next to the railway station in Luxulyan is like "living in the middle of a football pitch" according to a man who says he has been trying for the past five years to get the rail firm that owns it to stick to an agreement to turn the lights off at night.

And Bob Hatton, 66, said the situation had now got even worse as just before Christmas the station was fitted with new bulbs that have made the lights even brighter.

"A long time ago there were no lights there so no one could use the train in the evening," he said. "They installed lights, and they would go off half an hour after the last train had gone, which was fine, but then they stopped going off."

Mr Hatton, who runs his company, Hatton Energy Ltd from home, said whenever he contacted train firm First Great Western, he was told the matter would be passed to the station manager and dealt with. But although the lights did start going off for part of last year after the local council got involved, this only lasted for a short time before they were again on all night.

He said there are other homes nearby but that his home was the only one that has windows facing the station.

"It lights up my whole house," he said. "I don't need lights at night. And I used to be able to sit in the garden and see the stars, which I can't any more. On top of that, just think of the cost of the electricity that has to be paid by the train users. If this is happening across the South West it must be costing hundreds of thousands.

"I noticed a van came along just before Christmas and I thought nothing of it, but that night the lights were brighter than ever."

Luxulyan is on the Par to Newquay branch line, with the last train leaving the station at about 10.30pm.

A spokesman for First Great Western said the timer on the lights had been set to go off at 11pm but that "it would appear that the automated clock was not switching off as programmed".

"It is going to be reset and the situation monitored," he added.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the Cornish Guardian:

Frustration as Luxulyan home is 'floodlit' by station lights


Bob Hatton in his floodlit garden

A man who lives next to Luxulyan railway station says his home is "lit up like a football pitch" at all hours of the night.

Bob Hatton, 66, battled for several years to get First Great Western ^ now Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) ^ to stick to an agreement to turn the lights off at night and the rail firm finally sorted out the problem after his plight featured in the Cornish Guardian in January.

But last week Mr Hatton spotted workmen at the station and on Wednesday night his home was once again lit up, but this time even brighter than before.

"I saw the workmen there and thought nothing of it," he said. "But that night the lights were like floodlights again. They've obviously upgraded them and done a bit of maintenance and it is so much brighter now than it was before."

Last time this problem arose, Mr Hatton, who runs his company, Hatton Energy Ltd from home, said that whenever he contacted the rail firm he was told his query would be passed to the station manager, which he was again told last week when he emailed GWR customer services.

"I rang them, but you get the call centre and unless you are asking about train times, they don't know what you are talking about," he added.

He said there are other homes nearby but his is the only one that has windows facing the station, and the lighting means he can no longer sit in his conservatory and look at the stars in the evening.

Luxulyan is on the Par to Newquay branch line, with the last train leaving the station at about 10.30pm, and Mr Hatton said there is no need for lights to be on through the night when no one is catching a train.

"If they are doing this at all their stations, they must be wasting millions in electricity," he added. "And it's not their money; it's the people who pay the train fares."

A spokesman for GWR said: "We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to Mr Hatton. At our stations we aim to maintain a safe environment, while at the same time being a good neighbour. As soon as we were made aware of this recurrence we have acted and the timer is to be adjusted to ensure the lights go off after the passage of the last train, and come back on again for early morning customers waiting for the first train of the day."

[eightf48544]

Surely it would be easy enough to put up a small shield behind the lights to stop backlighting.

At least at Waterloo we used to make councils do that with street lights particularly on or by overbidges as the new Sodium lights were similar to distant signal yellow. A bridge near Swathling comes to mind as one.

[bobm]

I was told in the "old days" the guard of the last train of the day used to turn off the lights and lock up the station on many branch lines.  Not sure what happened about people wanting to catch the first train of the day.

As for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s comment about ensuring the lights are on for the first train of the day, it isn't currently really a problem on Mondays to Fridays - the first train is the 09:28 to Newquay and 09:11 on Sundays - it is only the Saturday call at 07:03 which could potentially be tricky.

[Red Squirrel]

I'm sure I've told this tale elsewhere on this forum, but maybe it's worth repeating here: My Dad told me he once caught the last train home from Pensford to Brislington. It was a dark night, and the platform was unlit. Five minutes before the train pulled in a bloke strolled up to the station and lit the lamp; as the train pulled out he was already blowing it out. There's energy efficient for you.

[LiskeardRich]

Couldn't GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) or whoever is responsible supply the neighbour with some "blackout" style blinds? relatively inexpensive (temporary?) solution