Train hits car abandoned on rail crossing
POLICE have launched an investigation after a train struck a car on a rail crossing at Deeping St James on Saturday.
POLICE have launched an investigation after a train struck a car on a rail crossing at Deeping St James on Saturday.
The train rammed a brand new car which had been dumped on the rail lines on Saturday at 6.50am.
Luckily, the train was travelling at low speed and the driver slammed on the brakes when he saw the Ford Fiesta straddling the lines, but was unable to avoid hitting it.
Today British Transport Police (BTP) are hunting for whoever abandoned the car.
The East Midlands' train suffered a "low impact at low speed" at Wellandbank Crossing, in Deeping St James, on Saturday at 6.50am.
The train was carrying just four passengers and they escaped unscathed, and completed their journeys by bus while the line was cleared and police carried out investigations at the scene.
Transport police are today trying to solve the mystery of how the car, with a new 09 registration plate, and believed to be a hire vehicle, came to be on the stretch of the line.
A spokesperson for BTP said: "We are investigating an incident on the railway lines between Peterborough and Spalding in which a car was struck by a train at low speed.
"The driver of the train applied the emergency brake, but was unable to come to a complete stop and hit the car at approximately 5 mph. Luckily, no one was injured in the collision
"The vehicle has been recovered from the railway line and police are attempting to trace the owner of the vehicle to establish how it came to be on tracks."
Fire crews rushed to the scene and removed the car from the track.
The line was immediately closed and remained so for around five hours.
Inspector Andy Ham, from Lincolnshire Police, who began the investigation before handing over to BTP, said: "It was a low speed impact between a train with two carriages with a vehicle, which had been left parked secure on a remote, rural, level crossing.
"Four people were on the train, but nobody was injured and there was no-one in the car. Lincolnshire Police managed the initial investigation and British Transport Police are now trying to establish why the vehicle was left there."
A spokeswoman for East Midlands Trains said: "As it was an early morning service, there were a small number of passengers on the train at the time and there were no injuries to any of them or to any staff members on board."
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Weather for Stamford
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
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