British infrastructure agency Network Rail is playing down a potential disaster yesterday (Tuesday, 21 October). The terrifying possibility of a freight train at full speed colliding with a vehicle came perilously close to reality on a sunny autumn morning. What’s been described as “a level crossing malfunction” could so easily have been making today’s headlines as a catastrophic accident on the East Coast Main Line.
Two neighbouring villages in England came within a moment of being united in tragedy yesterday. Three senior school students and their driver found themselves on the wrong side of closing barriers as a freight train approached on the East Coast Main Line. The sum of all level crossing fears almost became reality, as a combination of circumstances brought road and rail within moments of confrontation.
Students faced a freight train
In many ways, the neighbouring communities of Helpston and Glinton are cousins. They share a road connection, which carries the name of both villages, and despite their close proximity to Peterborough, they still have many of the local services that epitomise rural life in England. However, they are separated by one of the busiest sections of one of England’s busiest railways – the East Coast Main Line. In the flat Cambridgeshire landscape, that railway divides the road that connects the twins with a level crossing that frequently closes for mixed traffic to pass at speed.
The patience of drivers between the villages is often tested by the frequent closures. The crossing barriers come down on average for twenty minutes in every hour. There is inevitably almost always a queue of traffic waiting in both directions. Yesterday, at about 8.15 in the morning, the barriers at that level crossing lifted after a passenger train. However, they lifted too soon. A combination of circumstances resulted in a car carrying students from Helpston to Glinton’s Arthur Mellows Village College was left in a compromised position on the crossing.
Network Rail: “aware of an isolated incident”
According to alarming local reports and eyewitness accounts, the first vehicle in the eastbound queue entered the crossing, only for the barriers to abruptly begin closing again. If accounts are accurate, tragedy was only averted by the quick thinking of the car driver, who reversed out of the situation with considerable skill, avoiding the barriers, other vehicles and, most importantly, an approaching freight train.
Several local sources say that authorities have been informed about the incident, including British Transport Police, the Office of Rail and Road, and the statutory Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Network Rail has told local media they are taking action. “We’re aware of an isolated incident involving a barrier irregularity at Helpston level crossing this morning,” said a statement. “An investigation is taking place to determine the circumstances.”
Radical technological solution
The freight train involved has not been identified, although it is understood that there is no fault being apportioned to the freight operator. However, the possibility of an accident at the crossing is well known. This particular section of the line, just north of Peterborough and about an hour north of London, also carries east-west traffic, including intermodal workings between Felixstowe and the English Midlands. That such a critical section of the national infrastructure is bisected by a level crossing has been the subject of much discussion.
In general, level crossings are contentious. A local pressure group has been campaigning for over a decade on the issue. Network Rail is right to be circumspect about yesterday’s incident. In less fortunate circumstances, the landmark spire of St Benedict’s Church in Glinton may be ringing in mourning today. However, the infrastructure agency has not been idle on this matter – even if the glacial pace of change in Britain has thwarted efforts this far. As long ago as 2015, Network Rail tabled a proposal to divert the road over a new grade-separated interface – a radical piece of technology known commonly as … “a bridge”.