Not all my pictures are at or near railways - or even buses. Here are some from various places within our main area - can you identify them?

15.

Children filmed playing on level crossing


A girl was filmed doing a handstand on the crossing - Image © Network Rail

A level crossing in east London has been closed after children and teenagers were filmed playing "chicken" with oncoming trains.

Network Rail said the footage at Havering's Brickfields crossing, near Upminster, was captured during a survey of how the crossing was being used.  It showed young people doing handstands, racing across to beat trains, walking on the anti-trespass boards and using their phones while crossing. About 230 trains use the line every day.

The crossing was shut for an initial 21-day period on 30 September, but Network Rail said the closure would be extended.


Network Rail said young people were seen racing across the tracks to beat trains - Image © Network Rail

It will stay closed until every year group at local schools has had a safety presentation from Network Rail and British Transport Police (BTP).

Shenel Bullock, Network Rail Anglia's route health and safety manager, said: "We understand this closure may inconvenience some local people, but we cannot ignore the significant risks posed by this behaviour."  She said the closure would give the company time to assess "what further measures may be needed to keep people safe".

"We are asking parents, carers, teachers and the wider community to help us reinforce this vital safety message," she added.

A diversion is in place via Nightingale Avenue, Moore Lane, Front Lane and St Mary's Lane.

This is of course good news.  Much more is ideally needed though.

Thinking about it, I can't see where the IET for the first train came from.
Can't see it as ECS from Penzance, or Plymouth.
It just appeared and waited for crew to arrive 

An interesting case / place these days.   Trains long gone.

Two-year train platform closure 'unacceptable'


No date has been set for the reopening of the footbridge at South Bank station - Image © Daniel Hodgson

The two-year closure of a station platform which is forcing passengers to use a rail-replacement bus is "unacceptable", a councillor has said.

Passengers have been unable to access platform two at South Bank train station, near Middlesbrough, after safety concerns were raised about the footbridge leading to it.

Trains that previously called at the station, on the way to Redcar, now pass non-stop and the service has been replaced by a bus. Labour councillor Carl Quartermain said the 30-minute bus was not a "satisfactory long-term substitute" for the far quicker train.

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) and Network Rail said they were working to solve the problem.

Earlier plans to reopen platform two involved demolishing the footbridge and constructing a temporary replacement.  But earlier this year TVCA said it would finance an alternative temporary solution to "strengthen" the existing structure to bring it back into use.


Eastbound trains have not stopped at South Bank for two years - Image © Daniel Hodgson

Quartermain said plans to reopen platform access had faced technical, legal and ownership issues, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Network Rail said it was working to resolve ownership and liability issues regarding the bridge and that the structure's transfer to the organisation from Redcar and Cleveland Council was in its final stages.  It also said it had appointed a contractor to carry out the works when they began.

A TVCA spokesperson said the bridge closure had taken longer than it should have and that the situation had been complex.  "That solution is for Network Rail to take responsibility for the bridge and carry out the repairs needed to bring it back into use," they said.  "The legal process is progressing and all partners are committed to reopening the bridge as soon as possible."

Westbound services to Middlesbrough, Darlington and Bishop Auckland remain unaffected.

05:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 10:45
05:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 10:45 was started from Truro.
It will no longer call at Penzance, Redruth, St Austell, Bodmin Parkway, Liskeard, Saltash, Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Tiverton Parkway and Taunton.
It has been delayed at Truro and is now 61 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

I am hoping to bump into representatives from Flight Free UK at Heathrow tomorrow evening so I can quiz them about alternative methods of getting to Singapore.