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Tuesday 21 Jan 2014

Lincolnshire school visit gives safety message as company marks closure of 750th level crossing

Region & Route:

The mother of a young girl killed on a level crossing has joined Network Rail teams to tell her story to pupils at Cherry Willingham School. Tina Hughes agreed to speak to pupils after reports of schoolchildren running around the barriers at nearby Cherry Willingham level crossing in Lincoln.

In 2005 Tina's daughter Olivia and her friend Charlie, on their way to Christmas shopping, were killed at Elsenham level crossing. Tina works as a user champion with Network Rail to help improve level crossing safety.

Speaking after the visit Tina said: “I was very concerned when I heard that pupils from the school had been involved in near misses at the level crossing and was pleased to visit with Network Rail and try to make them understand the very real impact when a person is hit by a train. I was never able to see or hold my daughter to say goodbye - the injuries inflicted on a human body by a train are devastating - that has been very difficult for me. I don't want anyone else to experience anything so awful.

“I hope the pupils will think about how devastating it would be for their parents, families and friends if they were killed and realise that a two and a half minute wait to cross the tracks is just not worth risk their life over.”

The visit comes as Network Rail reaches a milestone in its level crossing campaign with the closure of its 750^th crossing. It means the company has reached its target of closing 10% of Britain’s crossings by April 2014. The LNE & EM Route, which manages the routes in Lincolnshire as well as the East Coast and Midland Main Lines has closed 231 of the total.

Phil Verster, Route Managing Director, said: “Our focus on level crossings means that our railway is safer than ever before. The closure of the 750^th crossing is a significant milestone but there is more work to be done. The LNE & EM route still has 2,199 level crossings.

“Where motorists or pedestrians cross the railway on the level there is a risk to users. My team and I are committed to reducing that risk to the minimum possible. We will continue our focus both on our infrastructure and our work with schools, communities and other organisations to spread awareness of our safety message.

"Successfully closing a crossing isn't always a straightforward process. I thank our local authorities, landowners and the public for the help they have given us to meet this target and ask for their support as we look to continue the closure programme and improve safety further still."

Craig Brewer, head of year 11 at Cherry Willingham school, added: “I invited to Network Rail and Tina Hughes to come in and talk to our students because I was increasingly concerned about level crossing safety in the village, following three near misses in recent weeks. They gave a highly informative assembly and presented the dangers of using level crossings in such a way that I think all the students would certainly think twice about taking such a risk.” The school also sent text messages all parents to reinforce the level crossing safety message following the visit from Tina and Network Rail.