Braystones Station and Crossing Concerns

Braystones Station and Crossing Concerns (Left) Braystones station, crossing and approaches, circa 1950, compared to the current view. The station master was responsible for virtually everything, from station maintenance to ticket issue and control of the crossing. The approach of trains was also signalled to crossing users by means of a bell affixed to the side of the station building. The railway line between Barrow and Carlisle was opened in 1850. It has sections of single-track and double- tracked lines and serves passengers as well as the nuclear fuel traffic to and from Sellafield. It is understood that the line only remains open because of its links to Sellafield and the necessity of transporting the dangerous loads around the country, with traffic extending to every nuclear site, including Hinkley, Capenhurst, Dounreay, Dungeness and Hartlepool. The trains usually comprise a minimum of two specially designed nuclear flasks and are hauled by a variety of locomotives, including Class 37s, and Class 21s, all of which are operated by DRS, the rail company set up by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, specifically for the purpose. Most passenger traffic is handled by DMUs, usually one- or two-car sets, operated by Northern Rail. The station at Braystones is currently a request halt for four services per day in each direction, except Sundays, when there is no service at all. Alongside the single-platform is a manually-self-operated level crossing. This serves to provide access to the traffic produced by the small beach-dwelling community and for holiday- makers from the nearby Haven caravan site, which overlooks the crossing. As some of the beach bungalows are permanently lived in, the crossing is fairly busy, especially in the spring and summer when visitors swell the numbers. A signalman at Sellafield, working in conjunction with another at St. Bees, controls the entire seven mile single-tracked section by means of the token exchange system which is fundamentally unchanged since the line opened 160 years ago. The crossing is at a point where the rail speed limit is 50 m.p.h. northwards and 60 m.p.h. to the south. There is no automatic indication for crossing users of the presence of trains in the section. Users are instructed by means of a collection of signs, all threatening dire consequences should one fail to adhere to the correct procedures, to use the closed-circuit telephone attached to the crossing fencing. It has not proved to be a very friendly or intuitive system to use; there is no ready way of determining whether there is a train nearby. With the telephone system, there is no indication as to when the signaller is present, busy elsewhere, or he has gone home as trains have finished for the day. Callers are left to their own decisions from around 1930 hrs. each day, as to whether it is safe to cross or not. Sometimes, though, nuclear flask trains or track maintenance trains pass through the station as late as midnight. In many ways, the safety of the crossing is lower now than ever, as there used to be a permanent station master, who was responsible for everything, including opening the crossing gates for vehicles and ensuring they were locked when trains were approaching. Traffic was a lot less frequent in those days, too, as there was no means of getting along the beach for non-specialist vehicles. Visibility to the north, towards St. Bees is quite good, but the topography towards Sellafield is such that entire trains can be hidden from view by a bend, eventually appearing about 200 yards away from the crossing. With a minimum of two, and often three Class 47s at their head and a string of nuclear flask wagons – several hundred tonnes in all, there is absolutely no chance of the train being able to stop in the event of an incident blocking the line, especially from the permitted 60 m.p.h. It seems the rails are examined quite frequently, but the infra-structure has hardly been changed since its original construction. In 2010, the crossing and its environs were in very poor condition. Residents had noted that the track was awash after rain, and the drainage gullies were ineffective following changes to the road layout. Even the legally-required fencing, of concrete post and wire stringer construction, had succumbed to the corrosive effects of the salt air. This left very sharp points and was very dangerous to young fingers. It was these concerns that led us to write to the various bodies. Several years ago, residents individually expressed their concerns about the parlous state of the line to Network Rail, but nothing was done. As a consequence of Network Rail’s disinterest, the matter was escalated to the Office of the Rail Regulator. After some prodding, an inspector reluctantly agreed to attend to see for himself. The meeting was fixed for the 31st May, 2010. Three residents were there to meet the inspector, whose arrival coincided with a truly torrential storm. Material was washed down from the fields behind the station and the nearby holiday caravan site, completely blocking the line where it passed through the crossing. On the seaward side of the crossing, the approach ramp was partially washed away, and the supporting rock and substructure disappeared onto the beach, 20’ below. Even after the rain had cleared, the sides of the damaged ramp kept falling into the hole, disintegrating to within 6’ of the track. The ramp provides the sole means of access for residents and services. After the deluge. The collapsed approach to the crossing. The railway line is about 2 yards to the right of the picture. The photographer was standing in almost the same place as the bystanders in the old heading picture of the station. A resident used the supplied telephone to inform the Sellafield signaller of the danger to trains and the signaller said he would stop all traffic. However, a train had already left St. Bees heading south, towards Braystones and was thus beyond control of the signaller. A few minutes later, the train appeared under the bridge at Nethertown. In a good impression of the cast of “The Railway Children”, the residents ran to the end of the platform waving coats, etc. Fortunately the train-driver stopped. When asked by the inspector whether he had not been informed of the blockage, the driver replied that they had received a garbled message over the radio, but had not been able to make sense of it. They had thus decided to wait till they got to Sellafield, when they could speak directly to the signaller and find out what he wanted to tell them! ‘Radio communication is useless here’, here said. Despite all this being witnessed first-hand by the ORR official, nothing changed. Six months later, correspondence revealed that the inspector had no recollection of the driver’s response – despite it having been heard by all three of the residents, two of whom are a bit deaf! Frustrated, an incident where a small child got onto the railway lines and walked towards Whitehaven, provoked us into querying whether the railway was legally obliged to provide and maintain fencing. (Some light railways are exempt, but speed limits and other operating conditions are imposed to maintain safety.) The question was ignored repeatedly. The ORR eventually informing residents that Network Rail were currently erecting fencing along the whole line, but at that time had only reached Barrow from Carnforth. Braystones would have to wait until 2014 at the earliest. The direct question as to whether Network Rail were obliged to provide it and should have replaced the rotten materials decades earlier was never answered, but at the end of 2012 a team arrived to erect brand new fencing and posts at Braystones. Shortly after, there was a flurry of activity as electronic equipment was installed immediately south of the crossing. Sadly, this turned out to be just a set of three closed-circuit television cameras to monitor the crossing. Nothing was done to improve safety there per se, just a means of prosecuting anyone who decided to use the crossing against the rules. The telephone system remained a pain to use, especially in inclement weather. Under the token-exchange system, once a train has left the issuing station, the signaller has lost its whereabouts and has no idea whereabouts in the section it is. Thus he cannot give permission for a user to cross. When the issuing station is St. Bees, a user might have to wait up to nine minutes for a passenger train, or longer still for a nuclear flask train. That can seem a long time. It can also become a matter of life and death for an emergency vehicle. The concerns we raised included the state of the crossing, the safety aspects of operating it with no indication of approaching trains, and the state of a bridge about 400 yards to the north of the station. Also included in later correspondence was a request that the crossing be illuminated after dark, utilising a proximity detection device to turn off the light once a crossing had been accomplished. We suggested that a simple two-aspect colour light signal would be simple and effective. The cost for such a system was alleged by a Network Rail official to be £147,000. When we suggested that figure was excessive, as the technology was already available and that spare cores in the communications cabling could be utilised for the purpose, we were told that there were no spare cores.

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