Crossing incident - How could it happen?

[Jetlagged]

I am not a railwaymen... Yet! So forgive the lack of understanding here.

I was having a trawl through YouTube for something, when I came across a video depicting incidents at level crossings. One in particular caught my eye, as I don't understand how it could have happened.

A little detective work shows the location as Canute Road in Southampton, where a single track line crosses the road. It is unusual in that there are gates across the line which are opened to allow a train to pass through. Road traffic is controlled by the normal lights and warning sound but there do not appear to be any gates across the road.

In this incident, a bus is in the yellow box without the exit being clear, and was stuck across the line when a locomotive approached. The train braked and managed to pull up a very short distance from the side of the bus. My question is, how can a conflict like this happen? Has the train passed a signal at red or is it merely left to the driver to decide if it is safe to cross the road? I imagine this is not a particularly busy line but it just seems strange that a line across what appears to be a busy road is so laxly controlled.

The video is here :

https://youtu.be/LYIejsIuDvU?t=151

The whole video is worth a watch to witness the great British idiot at large, but fast forward to 2.27 for the incident in question.

The thoughts of you experts would be appreciated.

 

[Audioguy]

The most remarkable thing is that once the bus is, presumably knowingly blocking the tracks, he waits... and waits and waits. Why would it be better to continue sitting on railway tracks behind red lights rather than back up slightly and drive onto the wrong side of the road out of danger?

 

[Llanigraham]

It appears to be an ungated crossing on a dock branch and does not appear to be signalled. Train drivers would be told to proceed under caution, being able to stop if they see an obstruction, which is exactly what the train driver did. I see no "conflict" or errors on the railway side, and the only person who acted incorrectly was the idiot bus driver entering the yellow box when his exit was not clear.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Am I the only one who thought the person most likely to come to a sticky end was the person holding the camera?

(Obviously I knew they wouldn't, otherwise the video wouldn't be on YouTube)

 

[142094]

Not all types of crossing are protected by signals. Could have easily happened elsewhere such as at an Automatic Half Barrier.

 

[Ambient Sheep]

The thing that amazed me were all the people still calmly sat in the back of the bus, despite the sirens and a huge freight train bearing down on them, albeit rather slowly.

"Do you think we should move up the bus, Doris, before we all get slowly crumpled into red goo?"

"No it's OK, Edith, it'll stop in time, I'm perfectly sure of that."

 

[Lrd]

The train was actually stopped at the crossing before proceeding and then stopping again. If I remember correctly the train driver was disciplined (or at least investigated)

 

[najaB]

Here's the discussion we had at the time: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=106587

 

[Jetlagged]

Thanks everyone for the explanation same the link to the previous discussion. I'll check that out next.

For sure, if I had been a passenger on that bus, I would first have made a dash for the door and then gone home for a change of pants.

I would hope that the train driver was not the only person disciplined here. The driving licence should have been taken from the bus driver and shredded.

Perhaps it was. I'm off to read the previous.

 

[Bigfoot]

For sure, if I had been a passenger on that bus, I would first have made a dash for the door and then gone home for a change of pants.

I'm afraid if this is your reaction to this type of situation then the railway is probably not the place for you.

 

[al78]

It looks like the train driver did what they needed to do to avoid a collision.

The bus driver should be charged for careless driving at the very least.

 

[BucksBones]

I'm afraid if this is your reaction to this type of situation then the railway is probably not the place for you.

What a dramatic response to a light-hearted post!

(Incidentally, I don't think anyone would like to be sitting on a level crossing with a train bearing down on them, railway employee or otherwise!!)

 

[Bromley boy]

It looks like the train driver did what they needed to do to avoid a collision.

The bus driver should be charged for careless driving at the very least.

Quite right - not knowing the length of his vehicle etc is no excuse - he's a professional driver and should be held to a higher standard than the average private motorist.

Far be it for me to unduly criticise a driver but the train driver's decision to restart with the crossing obstructed is very dubious, and a contravention of the rulebook (albeit I'm sure he was fully aware of the train's braking capabilities).

If he'd stopped, restarted, hit a patch of unexpected low adhesion and piled into the bus it wouldn't look particularly rosey from his perspective...

 

[swt_passenger]

The previous thread - from 3 years ago - has already been linked to above by najaB.

So I doubt there's anything new to add to this discussion.

 

[pompeyfan]

If I recall correctly the bus driver was a driver mentor at the time (I’ve actually met him, wasn’t all that enamoured with him), he was subsequently sacked, but ended up getting a job as a supervisor/controller for a local independent firm.

The train driver was disciplined for starting off with a clear obstruction on the line.

The cctv from both buses involved went on to show that someone further up the road cut someone else up which led to traffic coming to an abrupt halt and the bus driver being caught in no mans land.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The previous thread - from 3 years ago - has already been linked to above by najaB.

So I doubt there's anything new to add to this discussion.

True...

I do wonder whether one of the more "salty" contributors to that thread is still driving 40+tons around right up people's backsides though...

 

[Jetlagged]

What a dramatic response to a light-hearted post!

(Incidentally, I don't think anyone would like to be sitting on a level crossing with a train bearing down on them, railway employee or otherwise!!)

Thanks for the understanding BucksBones. Perhaps Bigfoot was just having a bad day.