November 08, 2004
Ufton Nervet

Is it just me, or is the Great Western Main Line suffering more than its fair share of accidents? Southall, Ladbroke Grove, and now Ufton Nervet? I mean, I know it's still far safer to go by train than it is to go by car, and I'm not going to stop using the train to pick up the girls from Reading, but I'll admit to being a bit uneasy.

Anyway, I didn't have the girls this weekend, so I wasn't anywhere near Reading at any time. I rang early on Saturday morning, as soon as I heard the news, and the girls, Cath, Dan and Ruben weren't on the train either. This was as I suspected - they drive everywhere - but I wanted to be sure.

My thoughts are with the families of those killed, and those injured, and with Amanda, for whom this must be a horrible reminder of her nightmare.

Update: Via Aurlog, some interesting numbers from Transport 2000 - during 2001, road deaths ran at nearly ten a day.

Update: Girl, nine, among rail crash dead. Horrible.

If, as it appears, this was a suicide, then there's almost certainly nothing that could have been done to prevent it. I know that a lot of people will be seeing this as the ultimate in selfish acts, but I don't think that that would be quite right. Thoughtless, yes, but I doubt that it occurred for a moment to the poor suffering individual who caused this that they might take anyone else with them. In the unlikely event that they gave the matter any thought at all, they probably assumed that only they would be hurt. After all, that's the case in the overwhelming number of level crossing incidents.

Posted to The Big Room by Simon Brunning at November 08, 2004 09:04 AM
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