Here

How sad, something should be done to prevent this from happening.

There aint much that can be done to be honest matey, there are plenty of clear warning signs by the crossing as well as instructions on how to use it and what to look out for, and as mentioned there is a telphone which people can use to find out if there is a train nearby.

There is no record of a call, so in this case, the woman did not take all precautions possible. To be honest though, unless ya pretty stupid, ya gonna see a train coming and run, im not speculating as its not my place to, but I wouldnt be surprised if either she was wearing headphones, being very un-observant, or its a case of something a bit deeper then a bad accident (ie. suicide).

Very sad though nevertheless

haven't seen many elderly women walking around with an mp3 player on i must say!! LOL

lol good point!

Unfortunate as it is, Im finding it hard to understand how it happened

Surely crossing a rail track must be easier than crossing a road??

Its a local line, so the trains arent going too fast.
They make more noise than cars.
The lines are gernerally straighter than roads meaning you can see further.
The trains run with their headlights on.
Theres less distance to cross tracks than to cross a major road.

Maybe her dog ran onto the track while the train was coming so she went to save her an cudnt make it away in time?

Maybe the batteries had gone in her hearing aid and She was only taking the dog for a quick walk, so she left her glasses on the kitchen table, then her shopping trolley got a wheel stuck in the tracks, and whilst trying to free it, a train was coming close fast and she couldnt hear or see it.

just a theory.....

Wtf?
Lol, Cracker!

lol... that's one theory...

however to stuymac, usually when the trains are empty they are running pretty fast due to not having to stop at each stop

I thought they had a speed limit of around 40mph on that line - maybe even slower as they pass crossings / stations...

ah right, i am probly thinking of the liverpool - chester line (used to get empty trains flying through at like 70mph+ lol)

just assumed it would be same for the other lines, i guess not

I think you're right there, as I've been at Spital station when a train has gone past doing at least 60mph+

40mph can be deceptive, unless you have used a speed gun to find out what speed they are going, as the train is right next to the platform, it can seem a lot faster then it actually is.

People always over-estimate speeds natuarally anyway, people always think cars are doing like 50 and 60mph at crossings etc when in reality they are not even at 45mph.

What could have happened like nearly happened to me as a "Child"

Crossed a manual crossing soon as a train went passed,
which actually blocked out the sound of a train coming
in the other direction, and because i was being clever
to cross as soon as the first trains arse passed i didn't
even see the second one.

Luckily i was young enough to make it across the other side,
and the back draft almost pull me back into the track.

Point i'm making is one train can block the sound out from another one

i then went and changed my shorts

well at both port sunlight and bebington there is a long straight and u can see the speed the trains are approaching and how fast they go into the distance... yea, i agree, perception plays a big part, guess work will never be close to a speed gun in accuracy. also, i guess with train tracks being slightly narrower than main roads it could effect the perception.

anyway yea, without a speed gun ya pretty fcuked as to whether u can estimate the speed accurately. too many factors, but they still fly lol

oh and the people guessings cars are doing faster than them are usually basing it on their own speed and mentally working out how much quicker they r doin blah i'm slashed i'll shut up now