Level Crossing incident Newquay - Par, 19 January 2012

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

I may be wong but I thought the mentioned 2003 incident between a tractor and a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) was at Coswarth level crossing not Trencreek.

Correct. It was Cosworth. 01 September.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the updated BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item (which now includes an on-the-scene interview with the car driver):

A spokesman said: "The driver of the car will be spoken to by BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) officers to establish whether any offences have occurred under the Road Traffic Act."

Also:

British Transport Police are investigating at the scene, where a tractor and train collided in 2003.

Erm, no: as the BBC report on the earlier incident states:

A train has been derailed in Cornwall after colliding with a tractor on a level crossing.

The accident happened at 1608 BST on Saturday on the Newquay to Par branch line at Chapel, close to the Trencreek Crossing, near Newquay.

... and, in another BBC report on that earlier incident:

An investigation is under way after a tractor was crushed by a train in Cornwall.

The accident happened on Saturday afternoon on the Newquay to Par branch line.

The train was derailed on a cattle crossing near Quintrell Downs and took several hours to clear.

Inspector Kevin Marshall from British Transport Police says the tractor driver was "very lucky" to escape with shock and head injuries.
   
The accident happened at 1608 BST on the Newquay to Par branch line at Chapel, close to the Trencreek Crossing, near Newquay.

[IndustryInsider]

What's the problem with the police quote?

Could have this wrong but I was under the distinct impression that RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) would have primacy over the accident site, not plod. That said I've got slightly lost in the mire of RAIB/ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)/BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) and who takes priority over whom in given circumstances. Better do a bit of revision because I'm supposed to know this stuff... 

I think that the normal course of events if for the civil police to arrive on scene, secure it as necessary wait for BTP to arrive, hand over the site to them, and then (assuming the RAIB is required - in this case it obviously would be) they would be let in to do their work - but would remain under the overall jurisdiction of the BTP.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed. From the Rail Accident Investigation Branch website:

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)) is the independent railway accident investigation organisation for the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). It investigates railway accidents and incidents on the UK's railways to improve safety, not to establish blame.

Our purpose for investigating an accident or incident is to improve the safety of the railways, and to prevent further accidents from occurring.

We achieve this by identifying the causes of accidents and other aspects that made the outcome worse.

Our investigations are entirely independent and are focused solely on safety improvement - we do not apportion blame or liability, nor do we enforce law or carry out prosecutions.

Carolyn Griffiths, Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm rather reluctant to post this but, in the spirit of encouraging a full and open debate, I feel I should :

From the Daily Mail:

Oops, I didn't see the signs and flashing lights: Woman 'lucky to be alive' after driving into path of oncoming train
- Driver will be questioned by British Transport Police
- Says of horror crash: 'I'd been rushed off my feet all day and was not aware there was a warning'

A woman driver has said she is 'thankful to be alive' after she drove her car onto a level crossing.

Sarah Frampton, 28, failed to spot any of the flashing lights, claxons and warning signs as she drove towards the crossing in Trencreek, Cornwall.

She pulled onto the tracks and suddenly spotted a single carriage First Great Western train hurtling down the local branch line towards her.

The train ripped the front off her Peugeot 406 and span it around on its axis - but Miss Frampton managed to walk away without a scratch.

There were just two passengers on the 19.25 Newquay to Par service, who were uninjured as the train was not derailed.

Miss Frampton, from nearby St Newlyn East, Cornwall, said she desperately tried to brake her car when she saw the train but could not stop before the impact.

She said: 'I'd been rushed off my feet all day and was not aware that there was a warning at the crossing.

'I don't often come down that road. I was travelling fairly slowly and out of the blue saw the train.

'I slammed on the brakes, but it was coming too fast and hit me. It was quite overwhelming how close I was. I am very thankful to be alive.'

Police were immediately called after the incident, which happened at 7.40pm yesterday, and officers arrived at the scene in just six minutes.

The accident happened at the Trencreek Road level crossing on the Newquay to Par branch line, a 21-mile route which links the popular tourist town to the mainline through Cornwall.

A spokesman for Network Rail said the crossing did not have barriers but was controlled automatically.

He said: 'The crossing has no physical barriers but there are flashing lights, signs and an audible klaxon to warn drivers that a train is approaching.

'Tests are currently being carried out but there is no indication that there was any problem with the equipment. It seemed to be in full working order.'

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said Miss Framton will now face questioning by officers to ascertain whether any laws were broken.

He said: 'Officers are investigating the incident and enquiries are on-going today to establish the full circumstances which led up to the collision.

'No one suffered any injuries at the scene.

'The single-carriage train was travelling at low speed and remained upright on the tracks. Only two passengers were on board the train at the time of the collision.

'The driver of the car, a 28-year-old woman, will be spoken to by BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) officers to establish whether any offences have occurred under the Road Traffic Act.

'The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)) has been informed.'

Hmm. 

Daily Mail journalist:

... a single carriage First Great Western train hurtling down the local branch line ...

British Transport Police spokesman:

The single-carriage train was travelling at low speed and remained upright on the tracks.

Just as a matter of interest: what is the line speed through this crossing?

[vacman]

If it is Trencreek then I believe there are different speeds for units and for heavier trains think its 5/15 (the higher speed for units) but not sure of this.

[JayMac]

Just as a matter of interest: what is the line speed through this crossing?

Whatever the mph is, I suspect that it isn't described officially as 'hurtling'. 

[grahame]

Webster's dictionary describes hurlting as "to move rapidly or forcefully" .. so as far as that car was concerned, the train was hurltling ...

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'hurtle' as, 'move or cause to move at great speed, typically in a wildly uncontrolled manner'. 

Not a description to be applied to a Class 153 travelling at 15mph, surely? 

[paul7575]

10 mph one way, 20 mph the other according to a post elsewhere.  It is an AOCL^▸ (Automatic Open Crossing (Locally monitored) A level crossing without barriers that is observed by the train crew before they proceed over the crossing), (Automatic Open Crossing Locally monitored -ie by the driver).

If the red flashing lights on the highway fail, the driver will not get his white lights and he stops - so that requires that the train approaches at a suitable speed that allows it to stop before the crossing - unlike at barriered crossings.

Paul

[Chris from Nailsea]

More press coverage, from ThisIsCornwall - with some rather caustic comments added :

Lucky to be alive after train hits car in Newquay

A driver said she was lucky to be alive after her car overshot a level crossing and was hit by a passenger train.

Sarah Frampton's car collided with the First Great Western single-carriage train in Newquay, Cornwall, at 7.40pm yesterday. The car was spun around and badly damaged, but Ms Frampton walked away shaken but unhurt.

The 28-year-old, from the nearby village of St Newlyn East, told BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Spotlight news she had not noticed the warnings at the crossing and by the time she saw the train, it was too late to stop.

 

[SandTEngineer]

Considering there is a minimum warning time of 27 seconds from the yellow steady light showing to the train arriving at the crossing I am absolutely gobsmacked (again) .  But then this is not the first time on this line and I'm sure it will not be the last

[old original]

By looking at the damage, and I state now that I am not an expert, despite the number of times I've pranged my own car,  it looks that if the car had been on the crossing when the train hit then would be far more sideways damage. The bonnet especially, seems to me that it has been hit from the front, it hasn't gone sideways at all and therefore, logically, suggest that the car has hit something front on, i.e. it has gone into something rather than been struck from the side.
What do others think?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.


(image from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page))

I reckoned, from the damage shown there, that the cow-catcher on the Class 153 had simply done its job remarkably effectively - slicing across the front of the car, to minimize any damage to the train?

[EBrown]

I would have thought a mandatory retest would be necessary!

This is Cornwall

A WOMAN whose car collided with a train on a level crossing near Newquay has been given a 56-day driving ban.

Facing Bodmin magistrates on April 11, interior designer Sarah Frampton, aged 28, of Station Road, St Newlyn East, admitted careless driving at Trencreek on January 19.

She was also fined ^275 with ^85 costs and a ^15 surcharge.

Jenny Kumeta, for the prosecution, said Frampton was at the wheel of a Peugeot 406.

She turned into Trencreek Road and approached the level crossing, which has no barrier and is controlled by warning lights and signs.

The lights were flashing but Frampton's car collided with a single-carriage train being driven from the direction of Newquay station by Rosemary Milne. There was minor damage to the train.

Ms Milne later said that the train had been halfway across the crossing when it was hit by the Peugeot. She braked and stopped the train.

Frampton got out of the car, apparently unhurt, and said she had seen the red lights but had not known what they meant.

She later told police it had been dark at the time and she had been driving slowly. She saw the train and slammed her brakes on. "It passed me but hit me as it went past," she said.

The British Transport Police instructed engineers to inspect the crossing controls and they found it was operating correctly at the time of the crash.

Frampton admitted the offence in an interview, saying it had been her fault and that she was sorry.

She told the court that she was a very careful driver and wished to apologise.

"This has been a shock to me," she said. "I'm intently more aware and focused.

"I've been driving for ten years and nothing like this has happened before and it will never happen again."

She explained that she travelled 12,000 miles a year and needed her car to visit clients, as well as to travel to Truro, where she was based.