THE FOUR-YEAR old girl who was involved in a level crossing collision in Nottinghamshire has died from her injuries. The incident happened around midday yesterday on the line between Gainsborough and Doncaster, and has prompted renewed calls for level crossings to be abolished.
The little girl, named as Emma Lifsey, was the passenger in a car being driven by a 67-year old woman, believed to be her grandmother, who received neck injuries. No one was hurt on the train involved – which was a local service from Lincoln to Doncaster.
Emma was airlifted to hospital in Sheffield, but died early this morning.
The crossing at Beech Hill near Finningley is an automatic half barrier installation, and British Transport Police are now leading an investigation into the circumstances, accompanied by officials from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. They have also appealed for witnesses.
A spokesman for BTP said: "Officers are working hard to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident, including how the vehicle came to be on the tracks.
"This will include speaking to any witnesses, while specialist officers will also look at evidence from the scene and the car in question, a black Volvo, which has now been recovered."
Bassetlaw MP John Mann and the RMT are among those calling for all level crossings to be abolished, but there are still more than 6,000 of all types on the British network, although Network Rail has closed 600 since 2009.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that his union "will await the outcome of investigations and our thoughts are with all of those involved. RMT’s campaign to speed up the phasing out of level crossings will continue and the investment required to deliver that objective must be made available by the Government.”
Network Rail has recently launched a new campaign appealing for level crossing users to take care and obey the rules, with the slogan 'See track, think train', and has also announced that more mobile cameras are to be deployed at level crossings, this time on the Great Western route, in a bid to reduce the number of motorists who attempt to cross against the warning lights.