Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
 No recent travel & transport from BBC stories as at 22:55 01 May 2025
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]		 03/05/25 - Walk to Pilning
10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railway Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM

On this day
1st May (1971)
Amtrak founded (*)
Train RunningShort Run
21:31 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
•
PollsOpen and recent polls
Open to 08/05 09:07 Steam Excursion - or diesel excursion with a featured steam section?
Open to 07/05 09:27 Should train, bus and coach operators be required to accept cash
•
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
•
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
•
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
•
Train companiesSelect from:
GWR
SWR
XC
Chiltern
TfL
TfW
WMR
Southern
• Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple Meads • Bath Spa • Chippenham • Swindon • Didcot Parkway • Reading • London Paddington • Melksham
Exeter St Davids • Taunton • Westbury • Trowbridge • Bristol Parkway • Cardiff Central • Oxford • Cheltenham Spa • Birmingham New Street
May 01, 2025, 23:13:32 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[127] Low passenger numbers due to train unreliability
[82] Steam excursion - except there's much more diesel than steam!
[65] Spain / Portugal power outage
[51] Brighton Belle - merged topics
[44] Cash payments for transport services
[43] "Save the Last Remaining British Rail Hovercraft from Destruct...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Great Western Coffee Shop > Journey by Journey > Portsmouth to Cardiff > Arrest after CCTV of bike thrown on live rail - 7 January 2011
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: Arrest after CCTV of bike thrown on live rail - 7 January 2011  (Read 9483 times)
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 19587



View Profile Email
« on: January 13, 2011, 20:11:21 »
From the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Quote
A man has been arrested after dramatic CCTV▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) footage was issued showing a cycle being thrown on to live railway lines in Hampshire.

Sparks were sent flying when the bike was pushed on to the tracks at Woolston station in Southampton.

A man is then seen to flee along with two other people on Friday evening.

British Transport Police said a 24-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of endangering safety and he remains in custody.
Logged
William Huskisson MP▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
Brucey
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2259


View Profile WWW
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2011, 08:01:04 »
Video on the Daily Echo website
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/video/video/108184/

Looks like a FGW▸ (First Great Western) 158 that passes after the bike is thrown
Logged
Juliebtm
Jr. Member
**
Posts: 11


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2011, 15:39:24 »
I have just watched the CCTV▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) footage. What utter idiots that are about today  Angry Sad That could have been much much worse. They must have been waiting for the passing train announcement. A FGW▸ (First Great Western) class 158 passes through the station shortly after the sparks were sent flying.
Logged
JonG
Jr. Member
**
Posts: 13


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2011, 17:48:05 »
Absolute maniac.

Quote from: Brucey on January 14, 2011, 08:01:04
Video on the Daily Echo website
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/video/video/108184/

Looks like a FGW▸ (First Great Western) 158 that passes after the bike is thrown

If you look at the time at the bottom right of the picture the bike is thown onto the track approx 17:57:45 and the DMU▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) passes at about 18:00:30-18:00:45, around 3 mins later.
Logged
paul7575
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5347


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2011, 17:11:22 »
This case just came to court, he got a year's prison sentence...

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9285848.Yob_locked_up_after_madness_on_railway/

Local radio still reporting that the FGW▸ (First Great Western) service was a 'high speed' train...

Paul
Logged
bobm
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 10241



View Profile
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2011, 17:46:37 »
Taking nothing away from the idiocy of what he did and I don't know the signalling arrangements there but if the bike was enough to trip the lights on the platform would it not also have had an effect on the signalling?  If the train was three minutes away would it not have encountered at least one signal which would have reverted to red?  Presumably if it had been an electric train it would have lost traction current anyway.
Logged
Brucey
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2259


View Profile WWW
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2011, 17:49:41 »
I think the video goes dark because the camera is adjusting its light exposure (as you can tell, I'm not a photographer!)  I can't see this having affected the station lighting as they will be drawing current from different sources.
Logged
paul7575
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5347


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2011, 22:42:26 »
A bike thrown across the live and running rails wouldn't usually trip anything - it wouldn't cause a low enough resistance. The over current devices are set at thousands of amps, otherwise a few trains together would trip them, and I think the apparent effect on the station lights probably is just due to the camera being confused as suggested.

If train crew want the power off in emergency they have to use a very 'heavy duty' short circuiting device, which is designed to draw enough current to trip the protective devices.  I couldn't say if a traction current failure would automatically result in the signals being altered, but along that line the two aspect signals are quite a distance apart anyway, hence the relatively long headways of 5 or 6 minutes.  There was never really a major risk, as the line speed through Woolston is pretty low due to the tight curve, but it's good to see the courts handing down a significant sentence anyway...

Paul   
Logged
IndustryInsider
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 10456


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2011, 09:31:06 »
I very much doubt the bike 'nearly melted' either!
Logged
To view my GWML▸ (Great Western Main Line) Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/
tramway
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 617



View Profile
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2011, 20:48:43 »
Quote from: IndustryInsider on October 05, 2011, 09:31:06
I very much doubt the bike 'nearly melted' either!

Totally agree, should have said 'did'.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of page • Jump to Forum Home Page