Level crossing accident on Arun Valley Line 17/02/18

[RichardN]

Both the people in car were local. They would have been aware that it was possible to get to the other side of the crossing via a detour.

 

[45669]

Railway Emergency Call via the GSM-R radio system.

Ah. Thanks for that. I knew that it would be obvious!

 

[MikeWh]

Makes you wonder what is going on in her head? She's been shamed in public for what she said, seemingly apologised (of sorts) but then decided to go all out to say 'F U' to everyone. Perhaps that didn't work out too well either, unsurprisingly.

Reading through the thread last night my sympathies for the lady grew with every over the top response. I didn't look at the posts that twitter had hidden under "might be offensive", but some of those I saw were bad enough. Sadly this is the result of un-moderated public discussion. Once you've unleashed that sort of reaction there is no way to put the lid back on the tin. I would imagine that inside she's probably quite remorseful about her out-of-place comment, but justifiably angry about some of the reaction it produced.

 

[Sunset route]

As I said just guesses on why folks would jump the lights if they did due to the quick sequence of trains that run down there. As for being involved, I will know the drivers involved, the staff on the trains, the on call staff that went out, know the line, know the crossing, but don't think locking the thread is right for now. There is the clear up, line will not open until monday, if it does...Updates will be made. No one has said they know what has happened, just general chat on the subject. There are certain things about this that I will not post, but will post general stuff thats out there, or needed to be known such as repairs, etc.

I’ll let the rest of the world speculate, but I will humbly withdraw from the thread as I also know staff involved and was involved in this post incident later in the day. There I’ve said it.

 

[Ambient Sheep]

She might be insensitive, but calling her a cretin is over the top, I've seen just as bad, if not worse, posted on this forum.

I tend to agree; it's not a term I'd use myself these days.

However your post might have been better directed at the post that first used the word rather than mine that was replying to it which put the offending word in quotes.

 

[Darandio]

She might be insensitive, but calling her a cretin is over the top, I've seen just as bad, if not worse, posted on this forum.

No, she is a cretin. Forget the insensitive posts she made about disruption initially, it is the stuff after that. Things like telling everyone to calm down because there are more important things to worry about, changing the profile picture to a 'Give A F*** O'Meter' etc. Insensitive-Vile-Cretin.

 

[AlterEgo]

That came across in the post "I was just going to post to my wife the somewhat odious Kate Jackson's Twitter feed" that it was something to be proud of her for

Well God forbid if she was married to me the only thing I'd be entering into Google this morning is "getting a divorce".

Somehow I doubt you would ever marry that person...

 

[Muzer]

Sorry, but if the crossing is half barriered then it is NOT locally monitored, and there are NO signal indications for the train driver.

That's not true at all. See ABCL and AOCL+B crossing types.

In this case it's an AHBC which is not locally-monitored, but it's completely untrue to say that a half barriered crossing is not locally monitored, as there are probably hundreds of examples across the network.

 

[Llanigraham]

Oh well, you live and learn.

 

[RichardKing]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/X31476/2018/02/18/advanced - this is probably the stock that will be rescuing 377454, booked for tonight.

 

[BRblue]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/X31476/2018/02/18/advanced - this is probably the stock that will be rescuing 377454, booked for tonight.

I think you'll find it was this one not the one you have quoted...
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O69459/2018/02/17/advanced

 

[RichardKing]

I think you'll find it was this one not the one you have quoted...
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O69459/2018/02/17/advanced

Ooh, I missed that one. I did have a look back on RTT, but not that far.

I'm surprised they managed to move it as early as that! As it was part of the crime scene, I thought it would be there until this morning at the earliest.

 

[Bromley boy]

I tend to agree; it's not a term I'd use myself these days.

Your post might have been better directed at
the post that first used the word rather than mine that was replying to it which put the offending word in quotes.

Agreed, selfish cretin is more appropriate!

No, she is a cretin. Forget the insensitive posts she made about disruption initially, it is the stuff after that. Things like telling everyone to calm down because there are more important things to worry about, changing the profile picture to a 'Give A F*** O'Meter' etc. Insensitive-Vile-Cretin.

Quite right.

The failure to apologise shows callous disregard to the responder to the previous tweet who apparently knew one of the victims, and would no doubt have been made even more upset by this person’s actions.

 

[Chrisgr31]

I’ll let the rest of the world speculate, but I will humbly withdraw from the thread as I also know staff involved and was involved in this post incident later in the day. There I’ve said it.

I think that most of us had probably worked that out, and that we all feel very sympathetic and sorry for all the rail staff and emergency service staff involved in this accident, but particularly those directly involved on the train and in the signal control room. On another (non-rail) forum I have read an account from a local resident who came across the accident very shortly after it happened and he has said he spent last night thinking what if - in his case it was more to do with offering assistance to those in the car rather than not doing so as he has no medical knowledge. Others in the thread have pointed out that in this case it appears nothing could be done to help them.

I have no doubts staff involved are also thinking "what if", but the reality I suspect that there is nothing any of the staff could have done to prevent this incident and therefore whilst they are always going to think about it, and never forget it ultimately they have to console themselves with the thought there is nothing they could do.

 

[Bald Rick]

That’s as much as I’m saying until the RAIB announce their investigation with the brief discription. This incident is not so much close to home but in the living room next to me. This is a REC call that every signaller will dread to receive, even more so than a suicide which happen all to frequently these days. The signaller concerned is a strong character but even they left the shift with the weight of the world on their shoulders. All deaths in such tragic circumstances will have an effect, not only to the families of the deceased, the unfortunate train crew, the signaller dealing with the train crew while making the line safe and coordinating everything, and the emergency services and railway responders that get called out.

There will nothing new to be gleaned from this event until the RAIB bulletin and then report. Moderates split the greater off topic talk of how various crossings work into a separate topic and lock thread until the RAIB release information.

Excellent post. I've been in similar circumstances, and it's not a nice place to be.

 

[Bromley boy]

I think that most of us had probably worked that out, and that we all feel very sympathetic and sorry for all the rail staff and emergency service staff involved in this accident, but particularly those directly involved on the train and in the signal control room. On another (non-rail) forum I have read an account from a local resident who came across the accident very shortly after it happened and he has said he spent last night thinking what if - in his case it was more to do with offering assistance to those in the car rather than not doing so as he has no medical knowledge. Others in the thread have pointed out that in this case it appears nothing could be done to help them.

I have no doubts staff involved are also thinking "what if", but the reality I suspect that there is nothing any of the staff could have done to prevent this incident and therefore whilst they are always going to think about it, and never forget it ultimately they have to console themselves with the thought there is nothing they could do.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[sarahj]

The line should be fully open today. Buses are on standby just in case. The level crossing and a foot crossing will be manned today. Well done to the Network rail crew for fixing it all so quickly.

 

[Spartacus]

Reading through the thread last night my sympathies for the lady grew with every over the top response. I didn't look at the posts that twitter had hidden under "might be offensive", but some of those I saw were bad enough. Sadly this is the result of un-moderated public discussion. Once you've unleashed that sort of reaction there is no way to put the lid back on the tin. I would imagine that inside she's probably quite remorseful about her out-of-place comment, but justifiably angry about some of the reaction it produced.

I watched episode 7 of The Orville last night, and found it very relevant, very much trial by twitter for real with those who get too many thumbs down, first being ostracised from parts of society then getting a frontal lobotomy if their apology isn't seen as sincere enough. A literal democracy where everyone's opinion is equally valid, no matter how few of the facts they have. Similarly Nosedive from Black Mirror.

Personally I see her issues being more a complaint about inefficient alternative arrangements rather then the delay itself, made to seem insensitive by the 140 character twitter limit. Given the amount of brickbats being slung at her I'm not surprised that she's decided to come out fighting. Why give a damn about people's opinions when you're clearly fighting a losing battle to try and change them?

 

[theblackwatch]

No, she is a cretin. Forget the insensitive posts she made about disruption initially, it is the stuff after that. Things like telling everyone to calm down because there are more important things to worry about, changing the profile picture to a 'Give A F*** O'Meter' etc. Insensitive-Vile-Cretin.

You think she is bad, look at what some woman recently did to an ambulance attending an emergency....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-43104314

A woman left an abusive note on an ambulance dealing with a 999 call, ordering paramedics to "move their van".

The writer said she did not care if "the whole street collapsed" and the crew had "no right to be parked here".

 

[theageofthetra]

You think she is bad, look at what some woman recently did to an ambulance attending an emergency....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-43104314

The moron has been charged by Staffs police. I guess she wrote van as she was too thick to spell ambulance.

 

[2HAP]

Twitter has a 280 character limit now.

 

[Spartacus]

It's still very short when dealing with a complex subject.

 

[sarahj]

It's all getting a bit OT here. Anyway, looks like the crossing will be shut for a couple of weeks. Hearing from those involved it was all very shocking. Looking forward to it all coming out.

 

[JN114]

Looking forward to it all coming out.

Is there any safety learning to come out of the incident that hasn’t already been reported on? If - as we all suspect - it’s a fairly open/shut case of motorist drove onto correctly functioning AHBC when they shouldn’t have and was struck by train; then all those waiting to read all the gory details in a full RAIB report may well end up disappointed.

 

[Ben.A.98]

Is there any safety learning to come out of the incident that hasn’t already been reported on?

Till the report comes out we won't know.

 

[JN114]

Till the report comes out we won't know.

Yes thank you for signposting the point I was making...

 

[sarahj]

Is there any safety learning to come out of the incident that hasn’t already been reported on? If - as we all suspect - it’s a fairly open/shut case of motorist drove onto correctly functioning AHBC when they shouldn’t have and was struck by train; then all those waiting to read all the gory details in a full RAIB report may well end up disappointed.

Cannot say, just looking forward to the report so we can talk about it. (Cannot not say as in ~I know, but cannot say here as you all well know why)

 

[theking]

Is there an alternative to this crossing is there a chance it may well be permanently closed?

 

[RichardN]

Is there an alternative to this crossing is there a chance it may well be permanently closed?

There is an alternative route which to be honest makes just as much sense for most routes out of the village. The people it will be a problem for are the people who in the houses just the other side of the crossing who now have a 2 mile journey to get to the village.

PS I used to work the the boy's father, and I dread to think what he is going through.

 

[Spartacus]

Isn't the alternative a low bridge route?