Taxi Driver Online

Taxi took wrong way at Northumberland level crossing - and was hit by a TRAIN

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/no ... n-15644058

A taxi driver and passenger had a miraculous escape from the car they were travelling in which was hit by a train


Image: Chronicle Live/@DarrenLant

A taxi was hit by a TRAIN after driving onto the tracks at a level crossing.

The driver and passenger managed to escape the car as the train approached and nobody was hurt in the collision near Warden Crossing between Hexham and Haydon Bridge in Northumberland.

The back of the taxi was completely crushed by the Northern train, which managed to make an emergency stop as it approached.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene at around 7.15pm on Monday.

Trains between Carlisle and Hexham were cancelled and passengers on the train were able to continue their journey on replacement buses.

The line was cleared and reopened shortly after 3am on Tuesday.

The crash has been reported to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.


Image: Chronicle Live/@DarrenLant

A spokesperson for Northern said: "There was disruption to train services last night between Newcastle and Carlisle following a collision between a car and a Northern train.

"The incident happened shortly before 7.15pm near to Warden Crossing – between Hexham and Haydon Bridge.

"No-one was injured and road transport was arranged to allow Northern’s customers to continue their journeys.

"Emergency services attended the incident and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been informed.

"As a result of the collision it was necessary to amend rail services on the route during Monday evening whilst work continued to remove debris and repair damage to the tracks.

"We apologise for any delay this may have caused to our customers' journeys."

A spokesperson for the British Transport Police said: "Officers were called to Warden Level Crossing, Hexham, at 7.16pm yesterday after reports that a taxi had been struck by a train.

"Colleagues from the ambulance service and the fire and rescue service also attended. No casualties have been reported.

"This incident is not currently being treated as suspicious and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been informed."


Image: Chronicle Live/@DarrenLant

So did the driver decide he had enough time to get around the gates? Or maybe the warning signs were not working.

However whatever caused the accident, the driver and punter are lucky to be alive.

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IDFIMH

Got the impression from headline and photos that he'd driven on to railtrack thinking it was roadway of some kind - certainly not a side-on collision.

So maybe gates/warnings irrelevant - normally quite a long time between warnings etc before train arrives, but maybe sitting on track trying to get bearings, or broke down, or whatever, but who knows?

Maybe not the wisest thing.

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IDFIMH

May not have realised actually on track at first, although must have became aware at some point, because obviously realised train was approaching because driver and passenger managed to get out in time.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but suspect drove onto track, and when saw train approaching decided lesser of two evils to bail out rather than trying to manoeuvre car into safe position.

This is not the first time this has happened with a city taxi.

Don't know if this link will work, or if this is the right crossing, but interesting the way the railway is more diagonal to the road rather than a simple crossroads. And a *lot* of distance between the barriers and the actual track. So wouldn't be surprised if in the dark the driver veered left from here onto the track.

Barriers look as if they just cover one side of the road too, and because of their distance from the track it doesn't look like the kind of scenario where you could end up stuck on the track between the barriers, with no exit route

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.99434 ... 312!8i6656

The train always wins. The people in the cab were indeed lucky to get out.

Obviously not a local lad then?

It's difficult to mistake a railway crossing for anything else, theres usually signs, barriers, lights, phone and other wee hints it's a railway crossing and theres no railway crossing that I know of that requires you to do anything else other than to drive straight across the tracks to the other side of it...no left or right turns just straight across.

I'm finding it very difficult indeed to come to any other conclusion that a car driver who drives down a railway line is nothing more than a complete moron who should never have been allowed to drive in the first place.....surely the passenger would have noticed something was amiss.

Agree

some level crossings can be at strange angles BUT are always clearly marked and usually have anti pedestrian devices (angled bits of wood) which you would notice driving over

I think this is following a sat nav too closely and lack of local knowledge

oh and his insurance will get a Massive bill from network rail including all the delay repay money and compensation for cancelled trains so whoever holds the policy might be struggling at renewal time

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Yes, was thinking he might have been following sat nav, which is why I mentioned the direction of the road and how it was in the same direction as the railway.

Not sure how *precisely* it would look on the driver's sat nav, but on Google maps the railway is right alongside the road after the crossing, so in effect is marked like a dual carriageway with the railway on one side and the roadway representing the other dual. So easy to see how sat nav could confuse the thing. The railway might not even be marked on the sat nav (or not at all prominently marked compared to the roadway), so if you follow the direction suggested by the sat nav, you could just as easily head onto the track rather than the road.

And from behind a computer screen we don't know what else could have been distracting the driver, such as an aggressive drunken passenger.

Probably safe to say that the driver isn't the sharpest around, though.

Maybe it's me but when I go over a railway line my suspension tells me quite clearly that I'm driving over a railway line.

It's either that or a row of dead bodies.

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IDFIMH

They're not dead, they're sleepers!

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related