Brockenhurst Parish Council may make fresh push for new barriers after another vehicle fireball at railway station
A fresh push for new level crossing barriers at Brockenhurst could be made after another vehicle ended up on the tracks and burst into flames.
No injuries were reported, but Saturday’s emergency involving a Toyota Auris at the crossing on the A337 Lymington Road caused hours of disruption for train passengers and motorists.
The alarm was raised around 3.50pm, and the vehicle’s driver managed to get out before it was destroyed in the inferno.
It is understood to have been the third incident in recent years in which a vehicle was driven onto the tracks there.
As reported by the A&T, one of these blocked lines for about half an hour and disrupted travel for hours in January 2023.
Brockenhurst Parish Council unsuccessfully pushed for measures to stop vehicles being driven onto the railway at the crossing.
Following Saturday’s incident, chair Cllr Russell Horne told the A&T members could now make another attempt.
“The first time this sort of thing happened, we went to Network Rail, and they went to the Ministry of Transport,” he said.
“The proposal was to change the rise and fall barriers to barriers that swing to block the railway when the crossing is clear for traffic to go over.
“But this was rejected at Ministry of Transport level as they said it would be a lot of work and unjustifiable for its cost.
“It’s a bit of a nuisance as I think that would have stopped these sort of incidents.”
He continued: “It was a hard fight before. We could make exactly the same argument again.
“When you’ve had now three accidents there, it makes sense that there would be justification for the new barriers to go in place.”
A Network Rail spokesperson told the A&T the barriers proposal had been seen as “not cost-effective”, adding that this position had not changed after Saturday’s incident.
The parish council did succeed in getting new signs installed in an effort to address concerns motorists were misreading directions.
Replacement signs, which had to be cleared by the Department for Transport, includes a symbol showing the level crossing between the two station entrances.
Local firefighters spent about half an hour extinguishing Saturday’s blaze before leaving Hampshire Constabulary and British Transport Police (BTP) to arrange the car’s removal.
The lines reopened about four hours later, but disruption continued until the end of the day.
Dozens of passengers were held up without heating and lighting while on board a train halted at Brockenhurst.
Among them was Jo Roxburgh and three friends who were travelling from Portsmouth to Bournemouth to see pop group Five at the Bournemouth International Centre.
“To be honest, we had no idea what was going on at first, so we were just in panic mode,” Jo told the A&T.
“They didn’t tell us that there was a car on fire on the line for about 15-20 minutes.”
After about half an hour, passengers were allowed to disembark onto the platform, and Jo’s group booked an Uber to complete their journey.
Having each paid around £16 for their train tickets, with rail card discounts, the Uber cost a further £45. They have applied for compensation.
Apologising for the disruption and the discomfort on the halted train, SWR and Network Rail explained the power had to be shut off for the safety of crews working at the scene.
They added normal service resumed around 9pm.
A BTP spokesperson said: “Officers were called at around 3.50pm on Saturday to reports of a car stuck on a level crossing in Brockenhurst. The car then caught fire.
“Officers responded with the fire service and paramedics. The driver of the car had left the vehicle and did not sustain any injuries. The incident is not being treated as suspicious.”