I saw something I’d rather not have seen this morning. But as will soon become clear, what I did see was still not as bad as what I didn’t see. Allow me to explain.
After my morning walk, I did what many train anoraks do: I went to nearby Patchway station to watch the trains go by. I’ve always liked to watch the trains go by, even though I have never had the inclination to collect numbers, as the more obsessive trainspotters do. The official parking spaces were full but as I cast my eyes further afield to find somewhere safe and legal to park, I suddenly became aware that there was a young woman walking on the tracks. Her rucksack was on the platform, she was wandering on the mainline between Bristol Parkway to Cardiff. Quickly as I could, I found a space and dashed to the platform.
As I arrived, a high speed train had stopped at the station, almost certainly, I suspected, because the driver had seen this woman. I spoke to the police via the emergency box on the platform informing them what I had seen and then dashed to the bridge that separated the platforms. The woman was still on the tracks and was trying to access the stopped train from the tracks. Quickly, I used the emergency box on the platform to update the emergency services, concerned as I was that a high speed express would come tearing through in the other direction and kill her.
The woman, who appeared disturbed and animated, then started to walk away from the platform on or next to the main line to the west, disappearing as the line curved to the left. I returned to the emergency box and told the call handler that I would wait around until the emergency services arrived. When they did, I was able to point them – them being the Transport Police, The Police and two vehicles from the Ambulance Service, as well as a woman from Network Rail – in the right direction.
The rail system had been shut down now and the Transport Police went off to search for the woman. By now, I had given all the information to all the services. I decided to wait around until such time as the woman was found, hopefully safe. Soon, I could see in the distance the woman being brought to safety. I cannot lie to you: I was mightily relieved.
She was taken to the waiting ambulance, against her will, and at one point did a runner, whereupon the police had to set off in hot pursuit to stop her causing herself any damage. They did a great job, as did the paramedics. I was there for over an hour, just in case the police wanted a statement. They took my details and I was on my way.
You hear about this sort of thing all the time. “Trespassers on the line,” as the GWS social media accounts put it. But here it was in reality. There was a young woman right in front of me who, but for the swift actions of train staff and a lot of luck, could have been dead. I have been on trains that have been delayed due to trespassers and felt frustrated and maybe a little angry at the inconvenience caused. But here was the reality of what a trespasser looks like. And it shook me up.
I hope the young woman gets the help she needs. I will not speculate as to what caused her to walk on a high speed railway line, but it will not be a well person who does that.
I don’t know whether to describe the outcome as a happy ending, but it certainly was compared to what might have been. Something could have happened that I might never unsee. While I am very happy that this young woman will see another dawn, I am happy for me, too, that I did not see something far, far worse. This was not something I expected to see after my exercise walk.
