Another 'near miss' at tragedy crossing
Tim Wale was driving back from the village with his 12-year-old daughter Rachel at around 9.12pm on November 28, when he noticed train lights approaching quickly from the east.
He said, as he approached the crossing; “The warning lights started to flash but the barriers didn’t drop.
"All of a sudden the train shot through at about 70mph and only then did the barriers drop down. The barriers stayed down for nearly four minutes so obviously the timing was wrong.
From the time I spotted the lights to the time the train shot through was about five seconds but even with these stupid half barriers you can see how easy it is for an impatient driver to cross. It was quite harrowing and my daughter was a bit shocked at the thought of what could have happened.”
His frightening encounter follows the deaths of seven people at Ufton Nervet in 2004 when a high-speed train crashed into a car that had deliberately stopped on the unmanned half-barrier level-crossing.
There have been three deaths at the crossing since 2004, while a report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch last year detailed how a motorist had started across the crossing when a train flashed by at 61mph - despite the barriers being raised and no warning lights being activated on September 4 2012.
The report concluded that the incident was attributed to human error and bad practice by a signaller.
Mr Wale, the proprietor of Tutts Clump Cider, said that although he didn’t use the crossing very often he was always wary because of its reputation.
He said: “I hate this crossing especially since that terrible crash a few years ago. Even in daylight I look left and right in case there’s a train approaching. Everybody I know who lives locally drives around to avoid it. I have a relative in Burghfield and she goes around it even though it’s the fastest route.”
A spokesman for Network Rail said that following Mr Wale’s complaint, engineers had inspected the crossing and deemed it to be in full working order.
The near miss also follows recent comments from the chief executive of the Office for Rail Regulation, Richard Price, who said that Network Rail’s safety improvements at the notorious crossing had taken too long to implement.
Network Rail announced last year that it would be replacing the crossing with a bridge - despite a petition from district councillor Geoff Mayes (Lib Dem, Mortimer) calling for full barriers and CCTV on the site.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Level crossing safety is of paramount importance to Network Rail, and work to close Ufton Nervet level crossing is ongoing as we continue to develop a bridge solution and confirm a programme of work with our partners at West Berkshire Council.
"At present, discussions around land acquisition and design are progressing simultaneously as the two are mutually linked, however early indications show that a solution is likely to be confirmed in the New Year.”