Disruption for the saddest reason

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) report on twitter around 20.30 tonight:

First Great Western @FGW

Services are unable to run between Bath Spa and Westbury due to a person being hit by a train. Road transport has been requested

Necessarily a bland announcement, masking a tragedy.

[Ollie]

Not easy to word tweets in these circumstances. And as restricted by character limits it's not easy. Ultimately need to get the info out for those travelling so it can seem a bit blunt. Our sympathy does of course go to the those involved in this.*

Posted as I wasn't sure how to take the comment about the tweet. (I sent it)

[thetrout]

Sympathies to all those involved and thoughts with staff involved also. I will be caught up in this distruption tonight. Waiting at Weston-Super-Mare for 22:01 to Bath Spa catching 23:38 onwards for Frome.

Had a text from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) JourneyCheck saying the 21:07 Bath Spa (20:49 from Bristol Temple Meads) to Weymouth is cancelled. Not a decision that will be taken lightly as that is the last service of the day for anything south of Frome. So Bruton, Yeovil Pen Mill etc.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From First Great Western JourneyCheck:

Cancellations to services between Westbury and Bath Spa
Following a person hit by a train earlier between Westbury and Bath Spa all lines have now reopened.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 110 mins or revised at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.
South West Trains services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.
Last Updated: 15/01/2014 22:32

[grahame]

A very useful discussion followed on from this thread concerning the best social media approach through which to inform people of such news and its consequences on them.   I've separated that into a separate thread ... http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13457.0 ...

This thread remains open for further news on last night's tragedy should there be further information.

[JayMac]

From the Wiltshire Times:

Police probe after person killed by train at Heywood

Rail services between Trowbridge and Westbury were suspended last night after a train struck and killed a pedestrian on the line.

Emergency services attended the scene at Heywood near where the train stopped.

It is believed the person struck by the train died on impact at around 8.30pm.

A temporary bus service was initiated between Trowbridge and Westbury train stations, and the line was closed for a number of hours while Wiltshire Police carried out their investigations.

At this stage, police do not believe the incident to be suspicious.

[TonyK]

Not easy to word tweets in these circumstances. And as restricted by character limits it's not easy. Ultimately need to get the info out for those travelling so it can seem a bit blunt. Our sympathy does of course go to the those involved in this.*

Posted as I wasn't sure how to take the comment about the tweet. (I sent it)

It was a compliment, Ollie. I can think of no better way to do it, and a lot of worse ones.

[Ollie]

Not easy to word tweets in these circumstances. And as restricted by character limits it's not easy. Ultimately need to get the info out for those travelling so it can seem a bit blunt. Our sympathy does of course go to the those involved in this.*

Posted as I wasn't sure how to take the comment about the tweet. (I sent it)

It was a compliment, Ollie. I can think of no better way to do it, and a lot of worse ones.

Thanks for clarifying this, appreciate it.

[grahame]

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/10942906.Wiltshire_train_death_link_to_missing_teenager/

A teenage girl died when she was struck by a train in Yarnbrook on Wednesday.

The incident happened at the Aintree Avenue crossing at around 8.20pm and it is believed the teenager lived in the area.

Emergency services were quickly at the scene. Police do not believe the incident to be suspicious. British Transport Police is leading the investigation into how it happened.

[Alan Pettitt]

A very very sad occurrence, whatever the cause, and it seems to be far more complicated than at first thought, judging by the number of police there this afternoon when I passed on the 16.15 from Westbury.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bath Chronicle:

Jazz musician Scott Stroman leads tributes to daughter struck by train in Wiltshire


Mary Stroman

Devasted jazz musician Scott Stroman has paid tribute to his youngest daughter after she was killed on a Wiltshire railway line.

Mary Stroman was last night named as the 16-year-old who lost her life after being struck by a train last week.

The teenager from London had been reported missing by the people caring for her at a home near Westbury, and police had already begun a search when a traumatised train driver reported hitting her near Yarnbrook.

She was crossing the Aintree Avenue foot crossing last Wednesday evening and was killed instantly.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said they attended the scene of the accident along with firefighters and paramedics after the call was made by the driver of the Portsmouth-Cardiff service, and found Mary^s body on the line.

^She had injuries consistent with having been hit by a train and was pronounced dead at the scene,^ a spokesman said. ^The incident was reported to British Transport Police at 8.21pm that night and is currently being treated as non-suspicious. A file is being prepared for the coroner,^ he added.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Western Daily Press:

Wiltshire schoolgirl Mary Stroman's parents upset at 'lack of justice, inquest hears

The parents of a teenager who killed herself in similar circumstances to a school friend spoke of their "frustration" that those who sexually abused their daughter have not been brought to justice.

Scott and Sue Stroman, of Haringey, north London said their daughter Mary, 16, was subjected to "sexual trauma", which probably involved an older man or men ^ leading to her mental health problem.

After a coroner concluded Mary had taken her own life, Mr and Mrs Stroman said: "Mary herself would never reveal the details of what happened to her and without her co-operation the Metropolitan Police felt they could not pursue an investigation, even though we were able to provide times, dates, physical evidence from phones and computers and even clothing. It was and is a cause of continuing frustration and sorrow to us that nothing could be done to try and identify the perpetrators."

Mr and Mrs Stroman also criticised the 13-month delay in Haringey Council funding a therapeutic residential placement for Mary.

The hearing in Salisbury heard Mary ^ the youngest of five children of Mr Stroman, a jazz musician, and his wife, a nurse ^ killed herself on January 15 this year. That was two days after an inquest had begun into the death of Mary's friend Tallulah Wilson, 15, who died at London's St Pancras station in October 2012 after also being struck by a train. The teenagers were classmates St Marylebone School.

At the time of Mary's death she was a pupil at the Tumblewood Community School in Westbury, Wiltshire, a residential school for adolescent girls with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

The decline in her health had begun after she told friends she had been sexually abused and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The inquest heard the driver of the First Great Western service from Portsmouth to Bristol saw a figure on the railway but was unable to stop in time. A post mortem examination found Mary died instantaneously.

Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David Ridley concluded Mary had taken her own life while suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder but insisted there was no evidence to link her death to Tallulah's.

"I'm satisfied on the balance of probabilities that it's entirely appropriate to make a finding of fact that Mary suffered severe mental trauma, more likely than not as a consequence of previous episodes of sexual abuse," he said. "However, due to Mary's reluctance to disclose these details, details of exactly when and where these incidents occurred are unclear but I am satisfied she suffered mental trauma as a consequence."

The coroner said notes Mary left in her room did not mention Tallulah but did refer to "perpetrators of abuse".

Mr Ridley said he would share his conclusions with Haringey Council and the Met Police.

A Haringey Council spokesman said: "This was a complex and difficult case and we worked closely with Mary's family."