Friends of the Rail Forum

Wandering woman hitches a ride on train

Bristol Evening Post
Monday, June 22, 2009, 07:00

These amazing pictures [go to link] show the moment when a woman hitched a ride with a high-speed train.

The lady, complete with shopping bags, is thought to have walked off the platform at Bristol Parkway before she was seen crossing railway lines and strolling on the track towards Winterbourne.

Her walk caused mainline services to be suspended from 9am to 9.30am on Saturday, before a cross-country train driver stopped and drove her back to the station.

School caretaker John Hobbs, 61, of Greystoke Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, snapped the woman when he was waiting to photograph a special train coming from Birmingham.

He said: "I'm a railway photographer and the train I was after didn't run in the end.

"I was just down the road from Bristol Parkway, on an old brick bridge, and I heard three guys in orange jackets shouting.

"The shouting stopped and a woman emerged from the bushes, walked under my bridge and on towards the next.

"An HST (high-speed train) stopped, the driver got out and had a few words with her and took her back to the station."

John said the woman appeared to be quite "laid back" as she strolled along.

He said: "She had a couple of bags with her and I thought I'd take a few pictures; it was a bit unusual."

A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed his officers were called to a report of a woman on the tracks near Bristol Parkway but by the time they arrived she was picked up by the train driver.

He said the woman, aged 38, was trying to get home, she was not in a disturbed state and an investigation is on-going.

Train services were halted between 9am and 9.30am, he said.


Pictured: The woman who took a short cut across track, forced train into emergency stop... and then hopped on for a ride

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:13 PM on 22nd June 2009


These incredible pictures [again, see link] capture the moment a train driver performed an emergency stop to avoid a woman on the tracks - and then gave her a lift back to the station she had come from.

The 38-year-old woman is believed to have been returning from a shopping trip when she casually strolled across six railway lines carrying two bags.

Minutes later, a high-speed cross-country train was forced to slam on its brakes to avoid hitting her.

Amazingly, the driver then stepped down from the cabin and helped the woman into the cockpit before driving her to nearby Bristol Parkway Station.

The bizarre scenes were captured by trainspotter John Hobbs as he waited on a bridge to photograph a special service due to arrive from Birmingham.

School caretaker John, 61, from Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, said the mystery woman appeared to be very 'laid back' despite the danger.

He said: 'I heard some shouting from the tracks so I looked down and saw three guys wearing orange jackets shouting at this woman to get off the line.

'She had a few bags of shopping with her so I thought I'd take a few pictures because it was a very unusual situation.

'She was totally oblivious to the danger because she was actually walking along the mainline and it could easily have been electrified.

'I thought she must have been suffering from some sort of illness but when I spoke to the transport police afterwards they said she was absolutely fine.'

The unnamed woman, who lives in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire is thought to have walked off the platform at Bristol Parkway Station just after 9am on Saturday morning.

She then strolled for 650m along the track eastwards towards Winterbourne before a cross-country train driver picked her up at 9.20am.

Train services in the area were halted between 9am and 9.30am, causing travel chaos for thousands of passengers.

A British Transport Police spokesman today confirmed they are investigating the incident and revealed that the woman involved was not in a disturbed state.

He said: 'Nine times out of ten when you find people on the tracks it is down to mental health issues but as far as we know this woman wasn't in a distressed state.

'After she was taken back to the platform by a train driver our officers escorted her on another train to her home in Cheltenham.

'We have now reported her to the Crown Prosecution Service for trespassing and the case is in the hands of the prosecutors.'

Woman walking on line stops train

Page last updated at 16:15 GMT, Monday, 22 June 2009 17:15 UK
BBC


A train had to make an emergency stop after a woman decided to walk 35 miles home along a railway track between Bristol and Cheltenham.

The driver had to slam on the brakes when he saw the woman, and stepped down from the cabin to help her aboard before driving her back to the station.

The 38-year-old woman who had shopping bags in hand, walked across six railway lines at about 0900 BST on Saturday.

British Transport Police said they were investigating the incident.

"I can confirm that a 38-year-old woman from Cheltenham has been reported to the Crown Prosecution Service for trespass after she was discovered walking alongside the line near Bristol Parkway railway station," said a spokesman for British Transport Police.

"Railway staff escorted her back to the safety of a platform at Bristol Parkway station where she was met by BTP officers who accompanied her on a train to Cheltenham where she was reunited with her family."

Photographs of the woman were taken by a trainspotter who saw her walking the 650m along the tracks before being picked up by the train.

John Hobbs, 61, from Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, was waiting on a bridge to photograph a special service due to arrive from Birmingham when he saw the woman.

Train services in the area were halted between 0900 and 0930 BST.

Surely the driver would be in trouble for putting here in the cab?

How could he tell she was not disturbed etc etc. Or would this be SOP for the railway?

Interesting question, Kevin. It might be one of those cases where an employee has to make a judgement call. He decides that the first priority is to get her off the running line where a train may pass at 125 mph on the other track at any moment, and that this overrides the rule about not letting people in the cab. It's not clear from the reports (which include some quite sensationalist stuff from the tabloids) whether he actually moved the train with her on board, or whether he called for help as soon as he was satisfied that she was in no further danger.

Perhaps on these trains the driver has control over his cab door, but cannot open the doors of the passenger coaches.

Mmmm. How many railfans will be walking up the line now, hoping for a cab ride?

If I recall correctly, most UK passenger rolling stock does not possess any steps below the passenger doors. Designed always to be stopped next to a high-level platform. Therefore the only way to board the train in section would be into the loco cab or possibly guards van, if there is one.

My logic would have been the driver should stop the train (to block the block!), radio for the police (who can be fast in the UK when they have to) and take and wait with the pedestrian by the side of the line.

But who actually knows? Maybe a reader in the UK can find out?

I don't think stopping would 'block' parallel lines so the woman would be in trouble from a train on those. I think the driver just did what he thought was right at the time - thinking of the safety of the woman and knowing how a driver would feel if another train was to run into her.

As she was not far from a station, personally I would have alerted the TCO who would then take appropriate action, but that would take time she might not have had.......

I am sure we all do what we think best at these times. A pity a man with a good heart is criticised when he should be congratulated on saving what might have been a nasty situation.

How easily would she have been hit by a train? I've walked along many a railroad and I'm still here...

But South African trains don't generally come past at 125 mph every few minutes!

Not really...

The line appears to have a 100 miles/hr speed limit at that point. One pic clearly shows the "100" speed limit sign next to the left-hand track. That's 160 km/h, some 60% faster than the fastest main-line trains in SA. Even though she was not actually on the tracks, a passing train at that speed would generate considerable wind and turbulance that could literally blow or suck her under the wheels if she was not aware of its approach and did not step back sufficiently far from the line. I am surprised that the driver of that inbound train was able to stop though. Perhaps it was a "local" (as opposed to a non-stop express) and he was already slowing on approach to the station.

You can see from the photos that it is an HST, ie a 125 mph-capable train, and on that line it would certainly be riding at maximum speed on some sections. However I agree with Steve that it is very unlikely that it was able to stop near her from very high speed, whether 125 or 100 mph (sharp eyes, Steve - I didn't spot the speed restriction), and there may have been a temporary speed restriction, an adverse signal, a booked station stop or some other reason why it wasn't going too fast at the time.

Maybe the simple answer is (and this answers all the points raised) her presence was noted earlier by track staff (according to the photographer it was) and the driver was instructed to slow down, proceed with caution , look out for her and collect her if she seemed OK?

Covers all the bases and hypothesis nicely! As well as being hypothesis itself of course!!!!!