Page 975 - Reading Mercury

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Sat 27 June
RAIL CROSSING ROW GROWS
Officials from British Railways attended a public meeting in Wokingham to explain
the workings and the safeguards of the new automatic barriers at Star Lane crossing,
Wokingham—which will become operative on July 5th. But instead they found
themselves the target for a storm of protests that the barriers had been installed.
The meeting under the chairmanship of the Mayor, Cllr. J.E. Chapman,
unanimously accepted a resolution from Cllr. H.A. Chapman calling upon the
Minister to modify his decision having special regard for the need for safeguards for
children, noting with alarm and concern the manner in which the scheme had been
approved without the consideration having been given to local objections and
opinions.
Opening the meeting the Mayor—who did not disguise his objection to the new
barrier—summarised the three main issues as he saw them—the disturbance to local
residents from clanging bells and flashing lights; the potential danger to children, and
the manner in which the whole scheme had been implemented. The Town Clerk then
gave details of what steps the council had taken by way of protest—and the
ineffectiveness of these.
Mr. H. Evans, of the Line Manager’s Office, gave an outline of the basic principles
of the new crossing barriers—and the safeguards which British Railways had
incorporated.
Then came the questions…with Ald. F. Moles setting the theme. The public are not
so much concerned with the mechanical workings of the barriers as with the safety of
the children—particularly when they are unattended during school holidays, he said.
And he added a protest about the way in which it seemed that the ministry and British
Railways had decided to install the new barriers regardless of local protests.
As questions came from all quarters of the hall the officials were hard pressed to
answer the many points made. One, Mr. T.W. Craig made the point “We are human
too… we are parents and have children.”
He explained that the real target for protests should have been the Ministry of
Transport—they had fixed the date by which the new barriers were to become
operative.
One of the strongest protests came from Mrs. L. Huckings—whose bungalow is
only a matter of feet from the point where the warning bells have been installed.
“I shall write to Sir Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery—I shall go
on fighting she said, after complaining that the bells would be ringing every few
minutes for about 18 hours every day.
“There is no short answer,” came the reply from British Railways—and Mr. L.G.
Leaton, in charge of the installation, said that the bells were of single tone with
“modest output.” He guaranteed that they would be adjusted to have only a “modest
output” and gave an assurance that the test ringing which had been heard was not, in
fact, the pattern for the future.
Mr. B. Reid, a member of the Easthampstead Rural District Council—who are
protesting about plans to install two such barriers between Wokingham and
Bracknell—complained about the “cattle grids” which were designed to keep children
off the track were themselves dangerous. He thought it quite possible that youngsters
could get their feet caught in between the protective wooden rails. A child could be
caught, screaming and trying to free his ankle until the train came along and silenced
his screams for ever, he said.

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