Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Acting in this way
Man’s dash to beat rail barriers at crossing
THIS is the shocking moment a pensioner is seen running over a level crossing — as a high-speed train powers towards him.
The man made the decision to dash across the railway at Broughty Ferry despite lights flashing to warn pedestrians about an approaching train.
Even as the barriers began to descend, the man kept jogging to the other side — making it just in time.
It’s just one example of reckless behaviour on a railway line — but a Tele investigation has found that dozens of people have put themselves in even more grave danger in recent years at crossings in and around Dundee.
We have found nearly 700 “events” at points where railways meet roads in the last five years — including 38 where people have narrowly missed being hit by a train or have become stuck between the barriers.
Last summer, the driver of a train bound for Glasgow had to apply his emergency brakes to avoid hitting two women on the crossing at Anderson Street, Carnoustie.
And in early June, a woman pushing a pram across the line at Harecraig — an unmanned crossing close to Royal Tay Yacht Club — had a near miss with a train travelling south.
The Tele visited the crossing on Gray Street in Broughty Ferry — where trains travel at up to 100mph — at lunchtime to see if we could witness similar dangerous behaviour.
Within minutes, the elderly man bolted past the flashing lights and had to dodge one of the barriers as he headed towards Queen Street.
It’s a common occurrence at the site — despite an underpass offering a safe route across the line — according to Arlene Piggot, 67, who runs The Sewing Station next to the crossing.
She said: “It’s happens a lot. They don’t want to wait for the train to pass through or they don’t want to use the underpass. There’s not anything that can be done about it — it is down to the individuals to take responsibility for themselves.”
Information revealed by Network Rail showed that one person actually became stuck at the Ferry crossing last March as a train approached.
Although none of these incidents led to fatalities, seven people received injuries. A spokeswoman for British Transport Police said: “We’re responsible for policing more than 6,000 level crossings throughout Britain and have seen first hand what the consequences of taking a shortcut over a level crossing can be. There is never an excuse for jumping over the barriers and walking on the tracks — trains travel at speeds exceeding 100mph and so this behaviour can have fatal consequences.”
Network Rail says it’s been carrying out a “level crossing risk reduction programme” since 2010, closing or upgrading crossings in a bid to improve safety.
Among those closures was the former Camperdown crossing near Dundee Port, which shut on October 25 2014 — and where a trespasser