Faulty lights to blame for near miss at Bath level crossing
Bath Chronicle, This is Bath: 11 June 2012
Emergency repairs have been carried out on lights at a level crossing in Bath after a pedestrian was almost hit by a train.
A member of the public contacted Network Rail at around 4.30pm yesterday after they prepared to cross the tracks at the Glasses Occupational crossing in Bathampton, just as a train was coming down the line.
Luckily they saw the train in time, so nobody was injured, but engineers have been on site yesterday and this morning to fix the problem with the lights.
A spokeswoman for Network Rail said that “rigorous testing” was being carried out and that anyone using the crossing this morning was being assisted by a member of staff.
She said: “It does appear from our reports that the light wasn’t working properly yesterday, but thankfully no-one was hurt.
“We need to make sure it is working correctly, so we can prevent anything like this happening again.”
She added that if the engineers were not satisfied that the crossing was safe, then it would be closed while more work was carried out.
The pedestrian crossing is next to, but separate to, a user work crossing, which is used by vehicles needing access to nearby farmland.
Concerns were raised about its safety a few years ago after an elderly man had a near miss when the bonnet of his van was struck by a train travelling at around 60mph.
The incident in 2008 was also caused by problems with the lights and there are ongoing negotiations between the landowner and Network Rail about whether it would be safer to close that section of the crossing.
RMT Bristol editors note: At the time this story was originally published, the investigation and testing of the crossing equipment was still on going to discover if there is, or was a defect or fault. Only after such an investigation is complete will any relevant repair work start.