Wandering woman hitches a ride on train
These amazing pictures show the moment when a woman hitched a ride with a high-speed train.
The lady, complete with shopping bags, is thought to have walked off the platform at Bristol Parkway before she was seen crossing railway lines and strolling on the track towards Winterbourne.
Her walk caused mainline services to be suspended from 9am to 9.30am on Saturday, before a cross-country train driver stopped and drove her back to the station.
School caretaker John Hobbs, 61, of Greystoke Avenue, Westbury-on-Trym, snapped the woman when he was waiting to photograph a special train coming from Birmingham.
He said: "I'm a railway photographer and the train I was after didn't run in the end.
"I was just down the road from Bristol Parkway, on an old brick bridge, and I heard three guys in orange jackets shouting.
"The shouting stopped and a woman emerged from the bushes, walked under my bridge and on towards the next.
"An HST (high-speed train) stopped, the driver got out and had a few words with her and took her back to the station."
John said the woman appeared to be quite "laid back" as she strolled along.
He said: "She had a couple of bags with her and I thought I'd take a few pictures; it was a bit unusual."
A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed his officers were called to a report of a woman on the tracks near Bristol Parkway but by the time they arrived she was picked up by the train driver.
He said the woman, aged 38, was trying to get home, she was not in a disturbed state and an investigation is on-going.
Train services were halted between 9am and 9.30am, he said.
9 Comments
by hanaboo, bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 11:35PM
“sounds logical to me... they charge too much anyway.. the only thing i disagree with is why they suspended service? she chose to walk down a railway track of her own accord”
by Anon, Bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 7:13PM
“A little bit of investigation would have revealed that she tried to exit Parkway station without a ticket a few minutes earlier. She had travelled down from Yate without being ticket-chekced, and saw no reason why she had to pay to get through the exit barrier. So she decided to find another way out of the station........”
by Emma, Bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 5:18PM
“What a strange and oblivious woman. I hope she is fined for the trouble and delay she caused. Although I expect they just assumed she's doolally so sent her home with a cup of ovaltine.”
by Roger, West Midlands
Monday, June 22 2009, 4:38PM
“I was a passenger on the train involved, and spent 15 minutes looking at the side of a railway cutting simply because some stupid woman decided to leave home without her only functioning brain cell. As a result of her stupid, antisocial action, fellow passengers in my carriage missed their connection at Temple Meads meaning a delay of an hour. I am happy to say that, when the train pulled out of Parkway station, the woman had been apprehended by railway staff and Transport Police, and I hope they throw the book at her.
For the benefit of other correspondants, the word dictionary description of amazing is "causing astonishment", and I think any right-minded person will be astonished by this woman's crass actions. I commend the Evening Post for publishing them, and hope that they are passed on to TV channels and other newspapers to press home the message that trespassing on railway lines is not only life threatening but also causes great inconvenience to the passengers on the trains that you delay.”
by mark, bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 3:53PM
“These pictures really are truly amazing,im sure you will all agree
Im now wondering if the BEP pay for such like photos
In my photo collection i have a man driving a van in the centre without a seatbelt and also an unbelievable picture of a youth on a cycle not wearing a helmet”
by nick, kingswood
Monday, June 22 2009, 2:00PM
“Has anyone see the "amazing pictures" that the BEP declare are on here. As the only ones I can find are quite dull!!!”
by Jon, Bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 9:57AM
“So, contrary to the headline, this woman NEVER "hitched a ride" on a train but was picked up because she was causing a danger to herself and others.
Come on EP, let's get the facts straight, eh?”
by Spotter, Bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 9:11AM
“'These amazing pictures'?
Time someone at the BEP invested in a new dictionary I think.”
by michelle, Bristol
Monday, June 22 2009, 9:08AM
“What a weirdo! She must have something wrong with her. Shes obviously got a death wish!”