BOY AND GRANDMA KILLED ON 'POORLY LIT' CROSSING
THE railway/tram crossing on the Hucknall/Bulwell border where a seven-year-old boy and his grandma were killed in a devastating tragedy was "poorly-lit", an inquest has heard.
Jean Hoggart (56), of Barbara Square, Hucknall, and Mikey Dawson, of Spruce Grove, Hucknall, died after being hit by a train on Saturday November 22 last year.
But the Nottingham inquest was told that they might not have seen or heard the train approaching.
The double tragedy happened on the crossing that links Moor Road, Bestwood Village and Nottingham Road, Hucknall.
The crossing is used by the Robin Hood Line trains and the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) trams.
It spans three tracks – a disused railway line and a line apiece for trams and trains.
Mrs Hoggart and her grandson were heading in the direction of Nottingham Road and had negotiatied the disused railway-line after walking through a gate.
But it was 6.38 pm and very dark. She saw a tram on its track but didn't see the 5.45 pm train from Worksop to Nottingham train until it was too late.
The inquest heard that Mrs Hoggart, who was a cleaner at Hucknall National Comprehensive School, died from multiple injuries.
Mikey, who was autistic and a pupil at Broomhill Junior School in Hucknall, died from a "massive" head- injury.
The 150-tonne, two-carriage sprinter train was travelling at 62.6 mph at impact. The speed limit is 70mph.
Emergency brakes were applied but it took 30 seconds and 420 metres beyond the crossing for the train to stop.
At the controls was Peter Waumsley, who has been a train driver for 31 years and gave a graphic descripton of what happened on the fateful Saturday evening.
"The crossing was very poorly lit," Mr Waumsley told the inquest. "In darkness, you're virtually on it before you can see."
Mr Waumsley twice sounded the train's horn – 340 metres from the crossing and then 50 metres away.
But a tram was seconds ahead of the train. It is possible that Mrs Hoggart heard the first horn but thought the sound was made by the tram because the train was out of sight.
Mr Waumsley told the inquest how Mrs Hoggart "turned round in horror to see the train at the crossing".
"I was virtually at the crossing when I saw a woman and a small person," he said. "They were looking down at their feet, possibly because it was frosty.
"They were oblivious to the train. The lady then turned round in horror. At that stage, I was feet away. I was so close I could see the woman's face clearly."
He added: "The crossing was so dark I could not see the people on the crossing until my headlights shone on there. I did not see them until I was virtually on them."
A jury of five men and three women recorded a verdict of accidental death.
They heard from eyewitness Ian Morden, who was on his way to catch a tram and saw the accident.
He said he suddenly saw a train but hadn't heard it coming.
"I could not tell whether they (Mrs Hoggart and her grandson) were on the line," he said. "When the train came, I stopped dead and thought: I hope they are beyond it.
"I then heard a bang and thought: no, this isn't real. Then I looked and there was no-one on the line.
"I walked across and saw two people lying there. I think I had a blackspot then because the next thing I remember I was on the opposite side of the track ringing the emergency services."
Mr Morden suffered flashbacks after the accident and no longer uses the crossing. He told the inquest that before the accident, he was wary of it and used to "scurry across".
He said the crossing "wasn't ver well lit" and added: "Everything happened at once. All I saw was pressed into a second of time.
"I saw the tram, then the people and then the train was there. It takes longer to explain than it took to happen."
On the crossing, he said: "It's like crossing a motorway. I do not like it. The trains are going flat out. The trains are frighteningly fast."
The inquest heard that improvements have been made to the crossing. Gates have been repositioned, a new safety surface laid and a dog-leg taken out of the path across the tracks.
The results of a full investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) will be published later this year.
The Nottinghamshire Coroner, Dr Nigel Chapman, closed the inquest by offering his sympathies to the families of Mrs Hoggart and Mikey.
After the hearing, relatives were too distraught to speak to the Dispatch.
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