Fatality on the Whifflet Line

[me123]

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2164662.0.cattle_escape_sparks_travel_chaos.php

Very little mentioned about the fatality, which cancelled four trains on the Whifflet to Glasgow Central line in each direction. Services were as normal during peak times.

The bovine, one of many which had escaped and were causing travel chaos in the east end of Glasgow this morning, was struck by one of the earliest trains in the morning (I still have no imformation regarding specifics). The cows closed a section of road for about two hours, and the knock on effect caused major conjesion in a 30 mile radius. Travellers from as far as Lesmahagow were stuck on the M74 travelling at an average speed or 2mph.

 

[Coxster]

"The incident comes just months after one of Scotland's busiest road networks was thrown into chaos by 3000 chickens."

 

[djw1981]

Traffic at Lesmahagow is doing 2mph anyway at the moment due to the mess that is Raith interchange.

 

[Jordy]

Two were shot by police, one was struck by a train and the other by a lorry.

Unlucky cows or what!!! hock:

 

[1D53]

A 333 killed a good ten or so the other year near to Skipton!

 

[adamp]

Bloody Nusiance !

 

[TheSlash]

I'd want an investigation into two things

Why the railway wasn't informed of the incident and the possibility that one or more large animals could end up on the railway
How did the cow access the railway? There must be a gap in a fence somewhere?

 

[djw1981]

There are many gaps in the fence on that line. Every night people create new ones, as due to the low frequency and speed of service, some parts are used as illegal crossings.

 

[me123]

There are many gaps in the fence on that line. Every night people create new ones, as due to the low frequency and speed of service, some parts are used as illegal crossings.

That is very true. The Whifflets are my local line and "crossings" exist all over the place. At Kirkwood in particular, the lines are crossed by passengers (by descending the ramps at stations) as it is a shorter route than going under the bridge to the east of the station. At the M73 interchange, where the original accident happened, there's a lot of bridges and so on. Presumably the cow found a way around this, which wouldn't be too hard as there's no fence at that point (not many people would be able to access that way because you would have to walk on a motorway, but clearly that's happened here).

About contacting the railways, I can only assume that they were contacted. The incident, however, was not taken as seriously as it should have been at first because no-one knew how many cows, if any, had escaped. At the time of collision, I would imagine the drivers were warned to be cautious (as would those on the North Clyde Line) but weren't necessarily expecting a cow on the line. As I say, though, the full severity of the incident was not realised for some time and as a result it caused major chaos for hours afterwards.

 

[djw1981]

The major road chaos was due to trapped animals in the damaged vehicle, and the need to get a vet to come and triage and then kill those too badly injured, and calm others, whilst the fire service worked to free the trapped but uninjured ones.