Tackley station: Trespassers 'gambling with lives' despite new bridge

One man was captured carrying his bike over the tracks seconds before a train "hurtled through the station", Network Rail said

Trespassers are "gambling with their lives" on the rail tracks at a railway station where a new footbridge has been installed, Network Rail has said.

The new bridge replaced a level crossing at Oxfordshire's Tackley Station in April.

However, the rail operator said "shocking images" had since been captured on CCTV of people still walking across the tracks.

This included a cyclist who was seconds from being hit by a train, it added.

Trains travel through Tackley at speeds of up to 90mph (145km/h), with a stopping distance of more than a mile, Network Rail said.

"Shocking images captured on CCTV have shown people gambling with their lives for the sake of a few seconds, choosing to leave the platform and walk across the track rather than use the footbridge, which was opened when a level crossing by the station was closed to improve safety," it said.

Subway plans

It added the cyclist who was seen carrying his bike over the tracks did so "just seconds before a Crosscountry train hurtled through the station".

Extra signs have been put up in Tackley to warn people of the dangers of trespassing, the rail operator added.

The footbridge is expected to eventually be replaced by a wheelchair accessible subway.

Network Rail said it would share plans of the subway with the community "in the coming months".