INCIDENT: Moreton-on-Lugg MCB, Herefordshire 16/01/10

**updated 21/01/10*


A woman died and a man was seriously injured when a passenger train struck a car on a barrier crossing in Herefordshire. A second car was also involved in the incident.

Jane Harding died after being airlifted to hospital from the scene of the accident at Moreton-on-Lugg, Hereforshire.

Some passengers and crew of the Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven service were treated for shock. The train did not derail.

The crossing is controlled by a nearby signal box. It has been reported that the barriers were raised at the time of the incident. A statement from British Transport Police noted that "a thorough safety check of the level crossing was undertaken on Sunday and it was found to be in working order."

Police and Network Rail continue to investigate the cause of the crash. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch have launched an
investigation and have so far determined that there is "no evidence that the actions of the motorists or the driving of the train contributed to the accident".

In a statement released on 21st January, Network Rail say they have issued a "full and complete apology" to Jane Harding's family, saying that they consider the accident "is most likely to have been due in some way to Network Rail".



Photo (c) BBC

VIDEO: Langley Green MCB CCTV

Network Rail have released CCTV footage of pedestrians jumping the barriers at an oft-abused crossing in the West Midlands.



Langley Green is often the focus of campaigns against crossing abuse, as reported here last year.

INCIDENT: Hagg Lane AHB, Yorkshire 05/01/10

A car collided with a passenger train at an automatic half-barrier crossing in Yorkshire.

It is believed that the driver's car skidded on snow onto the Hagg Lane crossing near South Duffield, North Yorkshire. The driver of the Hull to Manchester train had seen the car obstruct the crossing and applied the emergency brake. The car driver was able to exit the car before the low-speed collision occurred. No injuries were reported and the train did not derail.

Photo (c) Paul Glazzard at Geograph

Level Crossing News in 2010

Technology gremlins and ill health conspired against regular updates to the site in late 2009. Both are sorted for 2010; we're playing catchup with some important reports from last year, they'll fill in throughout January.

Once we're up to date, you can expect a monthly update of information collated from local and national news channels as well as out correspondents and official RSSB /RAIB reports.

We're hoping that in 2010 we'll have more time to report on legislation and technology. We're also hoping that they'll be fewer incidents, fatal or otherwise, to report on.

Here's to a safe 2010.