A man was hit by a train on Sunday afternoon at the crossing at Melrose Avenue.
Multiple sirens could be heard at around 2pm yesterday afternoon and Merseyrail tweeted that there had been an accident on the train line between Manor Road and Hoylake stations. A man, who was taken to hospital, was hit by a West Kirby train approaching Manor Road station.
A BTP spokeswoman confirmed “a man has been injured after being struck by a train at the Melrose Avenue crossing. It is being treated as non-suspicious. The man was taken to hospital where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.â€
The line reopened at around 3:15pm.
Unfortunately, there have been multiple fatalities on this stretch of the Wirral Line over many years, some accidents and some suicides. In an attempt to help people in distress, I think at all the Hoylake crossings there is a Samaritans sign with a phone number to call for someone to talk to in confidence.
Due to the curves in the track there is restricted visibility when crossing from the “to Liverpool” side of the line. I reported nearly three years ago that Network Rail wanted to close some of the railway crossings in Hoylake. Does anybody know what the current situation is regarding those proposals?
Would an automatic warning and locking system on the crossing gates be a partial safety solution? The gates (both for motorists and pedestrians) locking within a couple of minutes of a train arriving?
What are your thoughts?
The gates locking would seem a good idea and not I think too expensive, even an audible sound near the crossing would do, however I am always puzzled why we as a Country seem to have such difficulty with rail safety. In Ireland and Switzerland trains run unfenced in many areas as well as up the main streets apparently without any problem.. No matter what safety notices or procedures you put in place, if people refuse to take any notice of them, there is not much else you can do.
They are still trying to close the crossings but haven’t said anything or done anything, personally i think they are trying to let it die down then do it without anyone noticing.
All the safety precautions that are mentioned won’t stop someone that wants to take there own life as in many of the fatalities that have happened at the crossings. I’ve crossed the crossings for over thirty odd years and not once have I ever had a problem seeing or hearing trains leaving both stations as common sense comes in to it by looking before crossing. If the crossing gets closed then trains might have to terminate at Hoylake as if barriers get jammed as the new ones often do then emergency services would have trouble to get on the Carr lane estate then putting more lives at risk
My mum was killed at the Sandringham Avenue crossing almost 9 years ago. It was horrendous. She had been using this crossing for over 40 years and was paranoid about crossing it. Safety was always foremost in her mind. That fateful day she would have seen the train approaching Manor Road station from West Kirby but I know she, as I would have done myself, thought that the train would be stopping at the station and she would have had ample time to cross. Instead it was a train that they were testing and didn’t stop. You can’t imagine the horror when me and my sisters were told. Ironically I had been at the same station earlier and the same thing happened. The train was going that fast the whole platform shook. There was no alarm or lights warning people that it wasn’t going to stop. An elderly lady on the platform stepped forward thinking it was stopping and I had to pull her back. It was sheer madness. When will they ever learn? Also the investigator who came to take a statement was very disparaging about the fact that my Mum was from Northern Ireland. Totally disgusted. Something needs to be done – and soon – before it happens to some other poor family. You will see a memorial plaque to our Mum at Sandringham crossing. Thinking of you Mum. Dianne, Mandy and Lorna xxx
Crossing like Sandringham Ave that are so close to a Station would seem to be the most dangerous as people assume the train will be travelling slowly
The way the out of service / no-stopping trains whizz along this line from West Kirby to the Depot without sounding their horn at the multiple crossing points MUST be against some Rail Health & Safety regulations?
I do remember that for a short time after that incident 9 years ago trains sounded their horns as they approached the crossings…..BUT it only continued for a couple of weeks….at most!
If the Railway Companies say they cannot justify the costs of locking gates or even warning lights….. then just sound the horn [for free] on those NON-STOPPING trains…….
Very sorry for anyone’s death or injury at crossings but I fail to understand how people can’t avoid danger on two five feet wide rails. Do they dawdle on the lines or fail to look both ways?
I have unsubscribed twice before and not been removed. This is getting to be spam.
I don’t live around there anymore and I don’t use that email address.