Police hunting 'extreme trainspotter' after Tewkesbury level crossing incident

“Why don't we have a photograph of them actually over the line? The one that we are shown doesn't appear to show them doing anything wrong.

By the way, according to Network Rail, bridges over the line cost something in the region of £1.5 million. No, I don't know how they can cost that much, either.”

“simple solution,build flyovers....then these spotters can have their head on pics,harder to get on the tracks(high fences either side) ,and then I'm not waiting for 30mins to carry on with my journey”

“by dontyaknow

Wednesday, November 28 2012, 9:41PM

"Alethia,

Geraint's point was, that these are 2 grown men, who are more than aware of the dangers of trains, and yet they chose to risk their own lives to photograph one.

People cannot have their hands held every step of life by the authorities and you have to be responsible for your own actions and therefore the outcome of these actions.

I would also rather the police were out catching the cable thieves, who cause travel misery to thousands of people as well as risking the lives of others."

And how is the driver or anyone else supposed to know whether these people are responsible adults, people with learning difficulties or a desperate couple intent on ending it all? I am afraid that you both fail to think about this at any more than a superficial level. No doubt, neither of you have ever seen the body of someone killed by a train. I have, he was an adult male who fits your description of being responsible, if it is at all possible to say that of a complete stranger whom you have never met or spoken to in your life can be assessed either from a distance or a newspaper photograph. I find that concept laughable.
When you witness a tragedy such as this it stays with you forever and I will never forget the site of this man's body with severed limbs lying on the track. The train driver, who was unable to stop his train in time was severely mentally affected by this experience and I doubt if he ever recovered. You talk about nanny state and people being responsible for their own actions but perhaps you could explain to me how to hold a dead man to account for the mental suffering he caused to the train driver and others that were involved?
Anyone with a modicum of sense can see that this is a very serious subject and that it is far, far more important to put life above that of property. The British Transport Police have my wholehearted support for getting their priorities right.”

“Extreme Trainspotting, is that the latest craze these kids are into? ;-)”

“If train crew have had a previous 'incident', they can be badly affected by something like this, bringing back atrocious memories possibly, if not probably, meaning they cannot work on the trains again.

Also it is very likely that children may have seen the event making them think that it was acceptable behaviour.”

“Alethia,

Geraint's point was, that these are 2 grown men, who are more than aware of the dangers of trains, and yet they chose to risk their own lives to photograph one.

People cannot have their hands held every step of life by the authorities and you have to be responsible for your own actions and therefore the outcome of these actions.

I would also rather the police were out catching the cable thieves, who cause travel misery to thousands of people as well as risking the lives of others.”

“by geraint2010

Wednesday, November 28 2012, 4:17PM

"OK these men acted irresponsibly, arguably even stupidly, but surely the British Transport Police have more important things to concern themselves with such as catching cable thieves and kids playing silly b*ggers on the track."

I would have thought that preventing people from being killed on the railways was a far more important job than catching a few thieves but perhaps you value property more than people! Gerraint you are the perfect example of how the police can never win whatever they do. If the article had been about them trying to catch thieves then probably you would have criticised them for wasting time on that when saving lives was more important!”

“Isn't the bloke on the left wearing slippers??!”

“Dr Hfrrrrr, you do realise the it the train had hit the ... larger .... of the two it would have been dereailed..”

“was it just his fat belly that crossed over the tracks .”