Shocking footage of a near-miss with a group of walkers near Sevenoaks, in Kent, has sparked an appeal from Network Rail to remind people to take care around pedestrian crossings.
The warmer weather and loosening COVID restrictions, Network Rail's Southern Region has have noticed a rise in the numbers of people using footpath crossings.
While some footpath crossings feature warning lights or electronic train horn sounds, many rely on users taking time to Stop, Look and Listen, and trains sounding their horns.
The incident took place at a foot crossing between Shoreham and Otford, in Kent when a group of five people narrowly missed a Blackfriars to Sevenoaks Thameslink train.
Network Rail Southern Region's director of safety, Simon Morgan, said: “The driver of this train was so close to hitting this group of people he had to stop and leave his cab to check they were okay.
“With the hot weather and greater numbers of people out and about, I'd really like to encourage everyone to remember to take care around our railway.
“We've made a lot of progress with safety at level crossings, including fitting hi-tech electronic train horn sounders to some, red and green lights and even closing a great many completely and replacing them with bridges. But we can't get rid of all of them and it's really important for people to always stop, look and listen, and stay off the railway in a place of safety until the train or trains have passed.”
A week after this incident, another near-miss occurred at Seal level crossing, near Sevenoaks, where a woman ran across in front of a train, causing the train to emergency brake.
Thameslink and Great Northern Train Services Director Rob Mullen said: “These near-misses left our drivers feeling very shaken. Someone could easily have been seriously hurt or even killed. Please, please respect the railway and use these crossings sensibly.”
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Agreeing with James Hennighan.
Getting walkers to ‘acknowledge’ will help behaviour.
I also did not hear any whistle.
How about a second W sign, ie double the ‘message’.
I hope the driver got the offer of counselling and time off, and that the walkers were tracked down, fined and had to take some kind of training with a video of ‘could have been …’ and ‘community service’ on the track.
Did the driver whistle….?
One presumes he did as he passed a ‘W’ before the bend, but it is not clear he did with no sound.
Whilst the last of the walkers was at the greatest risk…..running as she did to not get left behind……
Running across at anytime does not make sense….. walking is safer.
Any one of them could have fallen.
One point worthy of note though is that the ‘W’ for Whistle is before the bend and before the driver has sight of the crossing.
Whilst this siting location might fit the required distance….in measurement terms from the crossing…..it is not good.
The fact that a train may whistle when it cannot be seen by walkers seeking to use the crossing could easily lead walkers to think that a train was not that close to the crossing………because they would not see it.
Notwithstanding the need to take care when using a crossing, these walkers may have heard the train whistle, but then not seeing it because it had not come around the bend, they may have decided to cross.
Human nature being what it is, if they were on the crossing…..as some of them were……when the train came into sight, the instinct, probably with a hint of shock or panic included would be to rush to get out of the way……
This instinct to get out of the way will likely always be to rush forward rather than to turn back.
This is because once the motion of going forward had been commenced the natural reaction to escape a potentially dangerous situation is to continue that motion at an increased speed.
Hence the walkers run forward.
They know they will be safe when they get across the crossing and this is why both human nature and the individuals psychology tells them to press on forwards.
The judgement that might be made of going back rather than going forward is unlikely to be made once the walkers have commenced crossing, but might well be made if they have not set off forward more than a step or two….AND…..see the train.
In such an instance, seeing the train acts to tell them not to carry on going forward.
At any crossing such as this two things act as indicators to walkers.
First, will be the train whistle…..
Second will be seeing the train……
The walkers may or may not have heard the whistle before the train came around the bend…..BUT……they will likely not have seen the train at the time they heard the whistle.
Relocating the ‘W’ to a point nearer the crossing…….meaning just after the bend and at a point where the driver would see the crossing as he whistled…….would give walkers at he crossing a more immediate sense of the train.
They would be presented with the sound of the whistle……AND…….the sight of the train.
This would give them a far more powerful message that they should not cross.
Trains coming from the other direction are able to present this more powerful message because they are approaching the crossing on a straight stretch of track.
Incidentally, in the signage for walkers at such crossings, we do not see any signs telling walkers to ‘acknowledge’ they have heard the train whistle by raising one arm above their head.
Standard practice for railway workers in the presence of trains.
If this were adopted at such crossings the walkers would be given more information…..AND the action of using the crossing would be more participatory for them.
This would be far better than that which appertains at the moment, where the signage only instructs and does not involve the participatory involvement that ‘acknowledging’ a whistle would.
James Hennighan
Yorkshire, England
Over the past years, it seems there has been an increasing tendency for drivers to give a short ‘toot’ rather than a decent ‘blast’ on the horn/whistle when approaching a crossing/station or other hazard. Are they afraid of disturbing the peace? Back in the day, it was common practice to let the world know you were coming but no more, it seems. Maybe a W board with ‘LOUDLY’ printed underneath.
The pedestrian crossings should NOT be closed. People are expected to cross roads without walking in front of busses, so why can’t the idiots do the same with trains. Nanny State is pervasive enough without setting the entire country up for idiots, yes idiots.
My view entirely! Personal responsibilty needs the dust blown off it. When a fatality has occurred, everyone turns up with flowers and says what a wonderful person he or she (or other gender) was, and ‘something’ should be done. Mandatory awareness lessons, perhaps!
Idiots once again not listening and looking when crossing the railway tracks as the trains are approaching. Only when disaster has struck. And the fatalities on the railways increases. It’s best to close the pedestrian level crossings and to add a footbridge for the pedestrian and walkers safety.
Are we looking at mature, sensible adults here? As a regular walker I often encounter groups who are so involved in chatting among themselves they often fail to see obvious hazards; add to that earphones and the problem escalates. They were incredibly lucky. I commend the driver’s actions in going back to check, knowing what he could expect to find if tragedy had occurred.
So it happened near Sevenoaks, Kent and the people and walkers who use the footpath crossing normally use it to cross from one side to the other. No wonder there has been near fatalities or near misses on the railways including trespassing. Perhaps close off the pedestrian footpath crossing and to build a footbridge.