Time to ban mainline steam?
I sense you may be asking that question to provoke discussion?
In my former Community Rail role, concerned with promoting the station and rail use at Melksham, my initial view was that steam trains calling there were a really good thing. Then I saw what happened ... at an unstaffed station with a sloped platform end (in those days), whole loads of people - mostly not in the first flush of youth - left the platform and stood on the bank off to one side. Others walked down the slope too - clear of the track, but not clear of where the train would be coming. I moved Granny with grandchild in arms back from the line (and I do hope the child didn't hear the words she used) just before the service train came the other way. The goons on the bank, when I asked them to move as they were setting a bad example, explained that (a) they were perfectly safe, (b) that they had done this before - there was a precedent and (c) I had no authority to move them - I could merely ask, and they were going to decline my request.
Trains at Melksham appear from under a bridge and behind a fence, and a couple of other goons were leaning over - into the path of the train. They assured me they would pull back as it approached, and there was no need for me to worry about them tripping ...
In following up, I got in touch with the tour organiser, relayed what I had seen and suggested they take a careful look for next time. Six weeks later (!) they put me in touch with the local volunteer who did their publicity, who said he had send an email to see if someone from the company should be there half an hour before the train next time, and that he would get in touch next time they organised a special ...
I shed no tears that - although a further steam train or two have been scheduled to call at Melksham - it/they were cancelled a week or two before the trips were due.
Who pays the compensation for delays when trespassers on the line get in the way of railway operations? Is in Network Rail, the train companies who's trains are delayed, or the owner or operator of the steam locomotive that the people who have trespassed have come to see?
Poll
