Tragedy narrowly avoided in railway crossing crash (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Tragedy narrowly avoided in North Yorks railway crossing crash

8:00am Monday 22nd October 2012 in News By Emily Flanagan, Reporter

CRASH DAMAGE: The car near the track of the Wensleydale Railway after being hit by a train on Saturday

A WOMAN cheated death by a split second when her car was hit by a steam train on a level crossing.

The accident happened at the Fox Park level crossing, near Newton-le-Willows, in North Yorkshire on Saturday (October 20) afternoon.

The Wensleydale Railway train was ferrying passengers from Leyburn to Bedale when it collided with a car travelling on a farm track.

Amazingly, the only occupant of the car, a female driver, walked away from the accident unscathed, but was left very shaken.

One witness said had the accident happened half a second later, the results could have been far worse.

Passenger Alen McFadzean said: “The car was a real mess.

“If she had been half a second earlier, she could have died because the buffer would’ve gone right through the driver’s window. Instead of knocking the car off the track, it would have pushed it along.”

Mr McFadzean said the train staff reacted swiftly to make sure no passengers were injured and that the driver of the car was okay.

The train was halted for an hour while volunteer staff helped the police investigation, and then continued on, undamaged by the accident.

The level crossing is used by several households that live on the farmland at the end of the track. Ben Williams, 18, who lives with his family at Fox Park Farm House, said in August last year a car driven by his brother, Joss, was hit by a steam train as he tried to cross the track.

Earlier this year the Office of Rail Regulation served the heritage railway with safety improvement notices. They found visibility at the Newton-le-Willows crossing was restricted to 39 metres by vegetation and that one gate at the level crossing was missing and the other left open at the time of the accident.

As a result, Wensleydale Railway implemented sweeping changes to its safety procedures and the crossing now has two gates. It says it is the responsibility of drivers to ensure gates are always closed at the crossing.

But Mr Williams said the latest incident has angered residents. “The train company is responsible for cutting the grass verge so you can see what’s coming. “The grass is so high, it’s very, very difficult to see down the track - you have to press your nose up against the windscreen to see.”

He said his neighbour, who was involved in Saturday’s accident, would usually have young children in the back of her car.

“We want something done about it. Our neighbour was lucky her children weren’t in the car yesterday.”

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said: “The female driver was shaken, but declined an ambulance and arranged her own recovery of the vehicle.

“The gates were open when she drove through.”

She added: “We’re aware the railway board have had issues with the steam railway level crossing.”

Manager of the railway, Nigel Park, said the accident happened at a “user-worked crossing”, where drivers needed to open and close the gates .

He said: “The problem we have with these crossings is people don’t close the gates. It’s a constant problem for us and all railways.

“You should stop, open the gates, look and listen, then once you’re across stop again and shut the gates behind you.

“You can’t take the risk on a railway crossing – you’re playing Russian Roulette.”