Tractor driver in near miss at train level crossing

A tractor driver narrowly avoided serious injury or death after his vehicle was nearly hit by a train travelling at 73mph.

The farmworker was driving a tractor and trailer over a level crossing at Thorney Marsh Lane, near Castle Cary, in Somerset, on the morning of 26 November.

A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB) found the tractor driver had been given permission to cross by the signaller.

See also: How farmers can reduce risk on train level crossings

But as he was crossing the line, he saw the train approaching and accelerated to avoid a collision.

CCTV pictures showed the tractor and trailer crossed the line when the train was about 30m from the level crossing.

Emergency brake

The driver of the Great Western Railway train from Westbury to Weymouth sounded the horn and applied the train’s emergency brake.

The train stopped 450m after the crossing.

The Thorney Marsh Lane level crossing © Network Rail

The train driver and the tractor driver both called the signaller to report the near miss.

The RAIB report found there had been miscommunication between the signaller and the tractor driver.

The tractor driver was told he could use the crossing until 7am when he should call back and ask for permission to continue to do so.

He called back at 7am and spoke to the day shift signaller.

The signaller told him that the next train was due to depart from Castle Cary at 7.14am and he could continue to cross but to call back before then.

The tractor driver called the signaller at 7.09am to say that he was “all clear for now”.

Signaller criticised

However, the train was four minutes late leaving Castle Cary and it had not passed the crossing when the tractor driver called the signaller again at 7.21am.

The tractor driver asked the signaller if the train had passed through.

But the RAIB said signaller did not hear him correctly and assumed that the train had passed the crossing.

He told the tractor driver he could cross and asked him to call back at 7.30am if he wanted to use the crossing again.

The RAIB said the incident showed the importance of the signaller “taking the lead in all conversations”.

But on this occasion, the signaller “did not lead the conversation with the crossing user when the user was asking for permission to cross”.

The RAIB has previously raised concerns about the risk at user-worked crossings equipped with telephones within long signal sections.

It is investigating similar incidents at Thetford, in Norfolk on 10 April and Melton in Suffolk on 14 June last year. Full reports are due to be published this spring.