Action needed on rail level crossings

IRISH Rail are being urged to install a proper warning system at level crossings on the  Ennis to Limerick rail line after an elderly farmer was fortunate to escape serious injury when his car was hit by a passing train.

 

Councillor PJ Ryan made the call after Mary Stritch, Castlequarter, Cratloe, outlined the “frightening” ordeal her husband Jimmy (75) and family members went through when he was involved in a collision with a train on Wednesday, January 9.

Ms Stritch warned if the train was a few inches nearer, her husband, who didn’t realise the train was so close to his vehicle, could have been seriously injured.

Irish Rail has launched a full investigation into the incident after the 12.10hrs Galway to Limerick train clipped the car’s tow bar at a level crossing between Cratloe and Sixmilebridge.

Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene but no injuries were sustained.

An Irish Rail spokesman stated that over the last decade, the number of user-operated level crossings on their network has reduced dramatically. “Irish Rail continues to eliminate crossings on a risk basis subject to funding allocation,” said a spokeswoman.

Ms Stritch said her husband was leaving the house on the Gallows Hill side of the railway track and had almost cleared the level crossing when the train hit the tow bar.
She claimed it is almost impossible to hear a train coming because of the huge volume of traffic on the Cratloe to Sixmilebridge Road. She said the mirror on a pole is also extremely deceptive because an oncoming train can look much farther away than it actually is.

Having recovered recently from a stroke, Ms Stritch said this frightening incident emphasised the need for action to be taken.
“I am living here for 45 years and this is the first time that something like this has happened. However, we are at our wits end that something will happen. It is a bit like living in a prison. We have four children and you are hoping that everyone gets in and out safely.

“I have to be with Jimmy when he goes out with his front loader on his tractor with his trailer. The space to get out and open the gate is too narrow.

“Irish Rail have been here a few times examining the possibility of providing a new entrance but they said it would be too expensive,” she said.

This was the third serious incident on this railway line in recent years. James McInerney (62) from Newmarket-on-Fergus died instantly when he was hit by a train in the townland of Ralahine on June 27, 2010. Tomás Carroll (48) had a lucky escape when his tractor collided with a passenger train at the Laghile level crossing on June 20, 2011.