Level Crossing Collision - Bedford-Bletchley Line

[googolplex]

EMERGENCY services are on scene following a collision between a car and a train near Lidlington this morning.

Services from London Midland Trains have been suspended this morning following the incident and Marston Road has been closed between Station Road in Marston Moretaine and Lombard Street, Lidlington.

It is believed the crash occurred on the level crossing on Marston Road.

Emergency services are currently on the scene of the collision but there is no word on any injuries sustained by the driver or passengers of the vehicle.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said: "We were called to reports of the crash on Marston Road at 9.54am this morning.

"We dispatched a rapid response vehicle, ambulance crew and hazard area response team which remain on the scene."

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/...r-lidlington/story-30026678-detail/story.html

There's no news yet on whether there are any casualties, but I understand there's quite a lot of emergency vehicles there.

Will the RAIB be investigating this one?

 

[AlterEgo]

The train - assuming it was a passenger one - would have been stopping at Lidlington, or departing, so it is likely to have been a low-speed collision.

 

[najaB]

Will the RAIB be investigating this one?

If you've got ghosts you call the Ghostbusters, so it makes sense that if there's a rail accident in need of investigation you'd call the RAIB.

There may or may not be a report depending on if there are lessons to be learned.

Edit: This was posted before I knew it was a fatal accident, I apologise if the tone appears flippant. I was only answering the question if the RAIB would be involved, not commenting on the incident itself which has turned out to be quite tragic.

 

[googolplex]

The train - assuming it was a passenger one - would have been stopping at Lidlington, or departing, so it is likely to have been a low-speed collision.

The crossing isn't the one at Lidlington station, it's about half a mile away, so the train could have built up a bit of speed
Here's the crossing in question on Google Streetview for anybody who's interested: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0...125.38216&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

 

[gavin]

A man has died following the incident this morning

Service involved is 2S08 09:34 Bedford to Bletchley

 

[GB]

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/...r-lidlington/story-30026678-detail/story.html

There's no news yet on whether there are any casualties, but I understand there's quite a lot of emergency vehicles there.

Will the RAIB be investigating this one?

Two RAIB inspectors will be attending the site.

 

[AlterEgo]

The crossing isn't the one at Lidlington station, it's about half a mile away, so the train could have built up a bit of speed
Here's the crossing in question on Google Streetview for anybody who's interested: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0...125.38216&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

BBC now reporting a man has died.

Thought this was the crossing adjacent to the station.

 

[broadgage]

Very sad.
Does anyone know if this crossing is equipped with CCTV ? I think that most crossings are so equipped. If decent quality "film" is available then viewing of this should greatly speed the enquiry.
Would the train have had a forward facing camera ? that also would be very helpful in establishing the facts.

My thoughts are with the train driver who is almost certainly entirely blameless and even if unhurt will have had a nasty shock.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thinking practically...as LM have very few units usable on the line, might we see a long term bustitution for repair?

 

[najaB]

Thinking practically...as LM have very few units usable on the line, might we see a long term bustitution for repair?

That all depends on how much damage has been done. Without wanting to get too morbid, if it was a side impact then it could have been fatal to an occupant of the car without doing much more than superficial damage to the train.

 

[najaB]

There are claims that the crossing barriers may have been faulty:

A RESIDENT has said the level crossing barriers between Marston Moretaine and Lidlington often become stuck following the news a driver was struck and killed there this morning.

One man has died after his car was struck by a train at the level crossing in Marston Road today shortly before 10am.

Officers from the British Transport Police attended the scene of the smash on the level crossing off Marston Road alongside Bedfordshire Police and the East of England Ambulance service.

Marston Road resident Richard Kubaszewski said he had not heard the collision but had seen a Network rail van drive to the site before emergency services arrived.

He said: "I assumed one of the railway workers had been hit until the police told us a driver had been hit. I didn't hear anything.

"It is common for the barriers to get stuck."

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/...vel-crossing/story-30026865-detail/story.html

 

[QueensCurve]

The Grauniad has picked up on this story:-

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...r-hit-by-train-at-bedfordshire-level-crossing

 

[work-traveller]

This crossing is due to be closed (with a new bridge) as part of the East West Rail project.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

What class of DMU would it likely have been that is involved?

 

[googolplex]

It was a Class 153 that was involved in the collision, and as far as I'm aware there's no CCTV covering the crossing (it's an automatic half-barrier crossing).

The only time I've seen them get stuck is in the "closed" position (i.e. blocking the road), and from what I've seen, the signal protecting it doesn't clear until the barriers are down.

Here's a link to the BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38497315

 

[70014IronDuke]

If it's the crossing I think it is, I believe it was one of the first half-barriers to be installed in the UK. Sometime around 1963.

(But in case any news hound is reading in here, I'm sure it's been renovated and modernised since then )

 

[QueensCurve]

To cap it, a person has been hit by a train between Bedford and luton.

 

[Ibex]

What class of DMU would it likely have been that is involved?

The unit involved was 153 375. The 150 diagram is now running a shuttle service between Bletchley & Ridgmont, with buses from Ridgmont to Bedford.

 

[zuriblue]

It was a Class 153 that was involved in the collision, and as far as I'm aware there's no CCTV covering the crossing (it's an automatic half-barrier crossing).

The only time I've seen them get stuck is in the "closed" position (i.e. blocking the road), and from what I've seen, the signal protecting it doesn't clear until the barriers are down.

Here's a link to the BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38497315

I thought AHBs weren't interlocked with the signals.

 

[googolplex]

I thought AHBs weren't interlocked with the signals.

I could be mistaken then, but I saw the signal clear as the train approached on a few occasions, and figured it had cleared because the crossing had activated. I guess it could have been because the next (manually controlled) set of barriers on the line had been lowered.

 

[Llanigraham]

Very sad.
Does anyone know if this crossing is equipped with CCTV ? I think that most crossings are so equipped. If decent quality "film" is available then viewing of this should greatly speed the enquiry.
Would the train have had a forward facing camera ? that also would be very helpful in establishing the facts.

My thoughts are with the train driver who is almost certainly entirely blameless and even if unhurt will have had a nasty shock.

Link above shows it to be an Automatic Half Barrier crossing.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0...125.38216&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656
Only CCTV controlled full barriered crossings have CCTV.

 

[Llanigraham]

I thought AHBs weren't interlocked with the signals.

Correct.

 

[6Gman]

There are claims that the crossing barriers may have been faulty:



http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/...vel-crossing/story-30026865-detail/story.html

Of course, it all depends what he means by "stuck".

 

[pitdiver]

Talk about confusing. I was listening to BBC 3CR they were reporting the tragic accident at Lidlington then advising GTR and EMT were suffering delays. Until I read the post above re the incident up the line I couldn't figure out the connection. Seems BBC get very confused regarding Railways

 

[SpacePhoenix]

The phone in the yellow box, would that put someone directly through to the relevant signaller?

 

[SouthStand]

The crossing isn't the one at Lidlington station, it's about half a mile away, so the train could have built up a bit of speed
Here's the crossing in question on Google Streetview for anybody who's interested: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0...125.38216&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

That brick porch on the front of that house - what were they thinking?:roll:

 

[Tomnick]

I thought AHBs weren't interlocked with the signals.

Correct, but...

I could be mistaken then, but I saw the signal clear as the train approached on a few occasions, and figured it had cleared because the crossing had activated. I guess it could have been because the next (manually controlled) set of barriers on the line had been lowered.

...given the proximity to Lidlington station, there should be a signal (the one to which you refer?) between the station and the crossing in question - normally held at danger for stopping trains until they're ready to start or already on the move, suppressing the crossing sequence and thus ensuring that the time between the barriers lowering and the train arriving at the crossing isn't excessive. It might appear that the signal can't clear until the barriers are proved down, but that isn't the case - sometimes the clearance of the signal will be timed relative to the crossing sequence to ensure that the train can't arrive at the crossing too soon, and the signal will clear normally for non-stop trains before they strike in for the crossing.

The phone in the yellow box, would that put someone directly through to the relevant signaller?

Yes.

 

[silverfoxcc]

Q
Even if the barriers were stuck in the open position for road traffic, would the wig wags still operate?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I believe so.

 

[Tomnick]

Q
Even if the barriers were stuck in the open position for road traffic, would the wig wags still operate?

If the problem is that they're physically stuck (e.g. frozen), then yes. That must be a rare event indeed though.

If there's some other reason why they've not operated (e.g. left on local control, treadles/TCs failed wrong side), then no. Also a rare event!