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George Lynam from Salisbury has worked on the railways
for 44 years and for 32 as a driver. In the past 18 months he has been
personally involved in three fatalities.
His story ...
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The first one was horrific because it was at night. You're
focused on the bright green signal and all around is pitch black. All
of a sudden the headlights pick out what I thought was a tailor's dummy.
It's there for milliseconds and then there's a bang and then you've
got to live with it for the rest of your life. It never leaves you.
"The second was made worse because there were 500 people
on the train who all had to stay there with me for four hours. You
have to tell them in the broadest terms that there has been an obstruction
but it soon dawns on them. He was a 57 year old man who stepped out
from behind a bridge. He stepped out within yards and I was travelling
at 6Omph. There was not even the remotest chance to stop. It was all
over in two steps. It looked to me like he had slipped and lost his
footing. It's only later when you have to go and listen to the details
at the inquest when you get any kind of insight into what was going
on.
"The third one was on January 13th this year and he was
in his 20s. You are hurtling through the night and suddenly your life
is changed forever in a split second. Through no fault of your own
you become an executioner and that never leaves you. I can still picture
the scenes in my mind now.
" I will never forget any of these people, I was the
last person to see them as a living person and that never goes away.
I think if there is a next one I will have to think very hard if I
can carry on. The counselling I have received from my company's occupational
health department has helped me greatly. I'm a great believer in talking
things through but I couldn't go home and off-load this on the wife.
It just wouldn't be fair.
"People who do this don't realise the consequences,
my life and my family are deeply affected by what has happened. In
the third accident an arm was missing from the body and it was one
of the fitters who found it trapped under a train. Let alone the paramedics,
transport police and even station assistants who have to go out and
pick up the pieces of the body.
"In the days of steam you could hear trains but now they
are swift and silent, there is no way we can warn people. I am a grandfather
of 12 and if any of these had been children I am not sure that I could
have coped. The other drivers talk to me about how they would cope
but you can't be trained to deal with something like this - you just
don't know how you would cope and I know some of the younger drivers
would not. Even I would hate to have to leave the job early simply
because a child has not been told how dangerous trespassing on the
railways can be or because they are copying an adult taking a short
cut.
"If my story saves just one child then it will not all
be in vain."
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Route Crime - what it means to us...
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"To this day I don't know what possessed him to go
on the track. When they came to tell us I couldn't even say goodbye
properly - we had to identify him by one of his trainers and a schoolbag
with his name on it. I pray no other parent has to go through what
we've been through."
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Mother of 12-year-old killed
by a train
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"Just because we wear a police uniform it doesn't mean
we're not affected, I've been to loads of fatalities but once I was
called out to a child being hit and found her shoe, complete with sock,
nearly half a mile down the track. I just knelt there in the ballast
and cried - she had the same size shoe as my daughter."
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Constable, British Transport
Police
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"One of our 13-year-old boys was killed taking a short
cut across the local railway line and the effect on the school has
been devastating. It is going to take pupils and staff a long time
to get over the shock and grief."
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Headteacher, Leeds
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"One night my train struck a shopping trolley, loaded
with concrete and ballast, at 10Omph. Those who put it on the line
can't have realised the possible consequences of such an act. Or perhaps
they did. This type of incident is a nightmare for all train drivers."
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Train driver, GNER
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"I am convinced that in this world of uncertainty there
is one thing that can be relied upon - commit an act of railway crime
and you will cause harm, damage or even death. Railway crime cannot
be measured in the financial losses incurred by the industry, nor in
the minutes or hours delay caused to the passenger. Only by recognising
the personal harm, physical and mental, to those involved can you begin
to understand just how wrong railway crime is."
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Train performance manager
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"Like most on call staff I am always being called to
incidents which involve anything from putting objects on the line to
jamming points and fatalities. Every time you ask yourself - 'Why the
railway?' You never hear of anyone placing objects on the M1 or jumping
in front of an articulated lorry."
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Signalling manager, Network
Rail
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"Railway crime is a significant threat to the rail
industry. Every day I see reports of crime that affect the lives of
both passengers and staff. I would dearly love to prevent these incidents,
and in partnership with other railway organisations I am constantly
seeking new ideas and strategies to combat the problem."
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Chief Inspector, British
Transport Police
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network are tantamount to attempted murder." |
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Ian Johnston, Chief Constable,
British Transport Police
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