Two more teenage deaths ...

Sacha Wheeler was fourteen years old when she was killed on a pedestrian railway crossing in Whitstable.  Other people had previously been killed on this crossing, but some of these are believed to have been suicides.  Some news reports have quoted Network Rail as saying that they want to close this crossing, but that closing a crossing is not an easy process.

Milena Gagic was sixteen years old when she was killed on a pedestrian crossing in the village of Hipperholme.  She and a friend sat down on the crossing late one evening because they believed that the last train had already passed.  The friend managed to leap out of harm's way as a train approached, but Milena paid for their mistake with her life.

Surely it would make sense for the government to take a lead on this matter and require Network Rail to close every pedestrian railway crossing in the country.  It could also make funds available to replace pedestrian crossings with bridges or with underpasses, but instead the government sees fit to squander money on illegal wars and similar follies.

Followers of my blog may recall my having written on this subject before.  Sadly I expect that many more teenagers may have to die on our railway lines before the British people stop voting for evil politicians.

Update: It has since been reported that:

Network Rail level crossing manager Robert Lamoon admitted the sight line to the crossing for trains heading London bound from Whitstable was 'close to the minimum limit'.

He said it had last been rated high risk in August 2014 but admitted there had been no improvements.

Asked why, he said: 'It's a very long, drawn out process.'

Related previous post:
Who killed Katie Littlewood?