- Jun 30, 2017
- 2 min read

Network Rail staff stationed at Fishermans Path crossing in bid to prevent more tragedies

Railway staff have been stationed at a level crossing where three people have been killed in an attempt to prevent further tragedies. Staff from Network Rail are monitoring the notorious Fisherman’s Crossing in Formby close to Freshfield Station.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “Network Rail is currently running a safety campaign at Fisherman’s crossing. Staff are on site to deter misuse and to remind people how to use the crossing safely."

“This is being backed up by safety awareness days at the crossing in conjunction with Merseyrail and the British Transport Police.”

Since 2014 the crossing has claimed the lives of three people, the most recent in February of this year. The Fisherman’s Crossing has previously been graded as ‘high risk’ by Network Rail which applied to build a footbridge close to the level crossing which was later withdrawn.

The decision for a bridge was because the bend in the track just before the Fisherman's Path crossing meant that people crossing only had eight seconds to react to a train travelling at 60mph.

Student Yasmin Jones, 22 was killed on the crossing in 2014, when she was walking her dogs in the nearby woods with two friends and one of the dogs got loose and went onto the track. The former John Moores drama graduate ran onto the train track to save the dog from being hit by a train and was tragically killed.

MP Bill Esterson backed the plans by Network Rail for a bridge, which were put forward last year, but the application was withdrawn, after planning bosses at Sefton Council said the footbridge would be difficult to use for cyclists and would not be suitable for people with “mobility issues”.

Since that decision, there have been two deaths on the crossing, a 42-year-old man in February this year and Phillip Andrew Barber, aged 54, who died at the crossing in January 2016.