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Footage shows the moment people came just inches from being flattened by 70mph trains in a seaside town.
A popular foot crossing has closed in Ferring, West Sussex, after several close-calls and ‘misuse’ incidents.
CCTV at the railway crossing near Goring-by-Sea shows how people came close to being killed by fast-moving trains – or could have been electrocuted.
A young person appeared to be urinating on a stretch of the track where trains travel at up to 70mph, Network Rail said.
In another clip, a man holding a shopping bag and his dog on a lead saunters to the tracks.
The dog appears reluctant to cross and tries to pull its owner back to safety.
As the man is yanking the leash, he turns over his shoulder to see the approaching passenger train.
The pair manage to leap to safety, but the train passes him just inches away.
In another hair-raising clip, a cyclist appears to wait right between the tracks as a train approaches.
He stands there casually and only walks away when the train is seconds away.
Stuart Tautz, an operations risk advisor for Network Rail, said that ‘level crossings just aren’t safe places to play or mess around on,’ adding that they have spoken to local schools about the dangers.
‘The risk of being electrocuted is much greater than you may think, and so we’re urgently getting the message out to children and their parents that there is a risk to life,’ he said.
The rails have a live ‘third’ rail, which powers trains and is always on, having ‘enough electricity to kill,’ Network Rail warned.
Now the Clappers Lane crossing has been temporarily closed after the near-misses showing people walking on the tracks or playing there, which have been reported to the police.
In January alone, there were four incidents at the site when trains passed people by mere seconds. There have been 22 incidents since 2019.
Safety measures like extra signage and cameras were installed along with education events.
But, Network Rail said a series of incidents forced it to shut the crossing until it can install ‘further measures to improve the safety of the crossing and deter further incidents of misuse.’
The closure comes after Network Rail launched a grisly safety campaign about the dangers of the electric rail and what it will do to the body.
The high-voltage third electric rail can cause catastrophic and life-changing injuries, with the campaign showing a burned shoe and a charred foot that was recreated to demonstrate what happens to human flesh when it is hit by 750 volts.
A new survey found that 59% of Britons don’t know what the ‘third’ rail is and 38% of people think electrocution from rail tracks doesn’t cause serious injury.
Commenting on the foot crossing incidents, British Transport Police told Metro: ‘We received reports on four separate occasions in January of a level crossing in Farring being misused.
‘There is simply no excuse for misusing a level crossing and ignoring safety procedures.
‘Trying to beat the system or failing to pay attention not only puts your own life at risk, but also the lives of the passengers and staff of the oncoming train.
‘The railways can be incredibly dangerous, which is why people need to do the right thing when using railway level crossings and treat them with respect.’
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