Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

September On Tuesday the 8 th , en route to Carnforth, Black 5 number 45407 passed through Accrington. On Sunday the 13th, it was due to haul a steam special over the Settle to Carlisle Line, and a small number of railway enthusiasts had gathered at the Railway Station to witness this rare event. 1999 June Thomas Rogan, the driver of the 09:25 Colne to Blackpool South train, said he had reported the remains of a headless corpse next to the line between Church and Rishton at about 10:00 on the morning of Monday, June 21 st . Officers investigating the death of a 33-year-old man, said he had scooped up ballast with which to rest his head onto the line. His distraught wife said he had a penchant for using the railway lines as a short cut. The pathologist, Mr John Rutherford, stated he had ruled out the theory that the deceased had been hit by a train, as all the fatal injuries were to his neck. September A 39-year-old man who had a habit of crossing the tracks after he had got off a train, was killed by the Colne to Preston train at about 23:30 one Friday night. Witnesses said he was about to climb up onto the platform at Church & Oswaldtwistle Station when he was struck. British Transport Police were satisfied that there were no suspicious circumstances and that this was yet another avoidable accident. 2000 February On the 18 th , a man wielding a large spanner began causing alarm by swearing and threatening passengers on the early Colne to Blackpool South train, just after it left Huncoat Station. The guard phoned ahead and when the train arrived in Accrington police were waiting to apprehend the man who had already been disarmed by a group of passengers. He was obviously under the influence of alcohol and when he tried to escape CS gas was used to restrain him. A 22-year-old man was later bailed to appear at Preston Police Station in March. August On Bank Holiday Monday at 11:40, a teenager from Great Harwood was struck by the York to Blackpool train as he was walking along the lines to the west of Church & Oswaldtwistle Station. The driver spotted him as the train, travelling at about 40mph, was coming round the bend, and despite sounding the horn and making an emergency brake application it was unable to stop before hitting the youngster. BR’s Transport Police were investigating the circumstances of this tragedy, but Inspector Ingham could not give an explanation as to why it had occurred, except to say there were no suspicious circumstances. A spokesman for Railtrack added, “When something of this nature occurs we examine the fencing in the area to find out where access had been gained, but if people are determined enough they will still get onto the lines. This was the fourth fatality on this stretch of line in the past twelve months, illustrating just how dangerous it is to trespass on the railway”. A seat at Church & Oswaldtwistle Station, which had only been replaced due to vandalism two weeks previously collapsed, causing a young mother with two children to fall and hit her head. She suffered concussion and cuts and bruises to her arms and legs, requiring her to be taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary suffering from dizziness and headaches. A spokesman for Northern Rail explained, “It appears that someone had taken the nuts and bolts which secured the middle section out, resulting in it giving way and this was the cause of this unfortunate accident. We will now be looking towards replacing it with a welded seat”. October A survey of 1,000 people using the rail services has shown that a large proportion are unhappy with travelling from Accrington’s Station, let alone from the other three stations within the Borough. Some 37% said they did not feel safe waiting for trains, whilst 39% felt insecure travelling on them. As many as 22% said they were put off travelling by unsocial behaviour. Only Accrington Station was actually staffed and then only between 06:30 to 15:30 during the week, and between 06:30 and 13:30 on Sundays. Church & Oswaldtwistle, Huncoat and Rishton stations were totally unstaffed. There were CCTV cameras overlooking the platforms at Accrington, but at the other stations they were somewhat isolated from public view which added to the potential insecurity, especially for female passengers. The current operators First North Western Trains admitted they already were employing private security guards to patrol the trains, whilst British Transport Police were also aware of the situation, so were working with the local force to increase surveillance of these stations. Fraser Eagle had expanded their empire by entering into the travel shop business, to supplement the holiday tours. The railways have had a horrific year, with a major catastrophe at Hatfield, and a series of incidents and derailments causing all manner of cancellations, resulting in what must have been in the rail replacement businesses, ( now more politically correctly termed rail support services ), a boom year.

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