Witness said freight train narrowly missed hitting car on level crossing
A witness has spoken of the terrifying a moment a freight train narrowly missed a car that crashed through closed level crossing barriers at Streethouse.
Police said a suspected stolen car struck the barriers at the crossing on Whinney Lane at 5.05pm on Sunday, November 8.
Barry Hawkins, who was walking his dog, was stood behind the closed barriers waiting to cross on foot when he saw the police pursuit of the car on Whinney Lane.
Barry said the car passed within around 12 inches from where he was stood and smashed through the first two barriers on to the train line before hitting the second set of barriers.
He said a freight train travelling from the Wakefield towards Ferrybridge narrowly missed hitting the car and ran over debris from broken barriers on the tracks.
He could hear a crunching nose as the train ran over debris, some of which flew up and struck him.
The train stopped at the crossing and no-one was injured.
he car then struck the wall of a house and caused structural damage.
Barry had been walking his dog and was stood on the path at the Featherstone of the barriers.
He said the car drove on to the wrong side of the road to overtake a queue of around seven vehicles before crashing through the barriers.
He said: “I could feel the wind off it (the car) as it passed me.”
He said: “The train missed the car by probably one to two seconds. The police car was right behind him. It was very close. I thought the train was going to hit the car. I was scared to death.
"Al the debris from the gates was in the middle of the lines.”
The car ploughed through a hedge and struck the wall of a house at the corner of Whinney Lane and Whitwell Main.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Officers aborted the pursuit when the vehicle headed towards a railway crossing where the barriers were closed.
“The vehicle continued through the barriers and came to a stop on the other side of the railway.
“An oncoming freight train collided with debris from the vehicle. The train driver was not injured and the train did not derail.
“A man has been arrested and is currently in custody.”
Rail services were disrupted but are now running again.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “The railway between Wakefield Kirkgate and Pontefract Monkhill has reopened following a vehicle striking the barriers at Streethouse level crossing yesterday evening (Sunday 8 November).
"The road is currently closed while our engineers carry out essential repairs. We appreciate the impact this has on the local community and thank people for their patience while we work to reopen the road as quickly as possible.”