A woman was killed on a level crossing yesterday after her car skidded on an icy road and became trapped in the path of an oncoming train.

The 30-year-old died as she tried to reverse her car off the remote level crossing near Spalding, Lincolnshire, after a collision with another vehicle left her stranded on the tracks as the barriers came down.

Witnesses said that she had less than 40 seconds to escape the train, which was running two minutes early.

Police believe that the woman lost control of her grey Rover 216 as she approached the level crossing, causing her to veer into oncoming traffic and clip a Ford Transit van travelling in the opposite direction.

The collision sent her car on to the tracks, where one of its wheels became trapped down the side of a railway sleeper.

Seconds later the 8.33am Peterborough to Lincoln service reached the crossing.

Sergeant David Kay, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “She was making frantic attempts to get off the crossing but, because of the Arctic conditions, it was like a skating rink.

“She was frantically trying to free her car, moving it backwards and forwards.

“She couldn’t get very far, and witnesses say it was very, very quick from when the barriers came down to the moment of the collision.”

The train, travelling at more than 50mph, threw the woman into the air, killing her instantly, as it sliced her car in two. The Rover was shunted a quarter of a mile up the line before the train came to a stop.

Along with his passenger, the driver of the van that she had clipped moments before sprinted back to help the woman as the amber warning lights came on, but had only 37 seconds before the train arrived just before 9am.

Sergeant Kay said: “I don’t know what was going through her head and why she didn’t get out of the car, but she may have been thinking of all the passengers on the train and selflessly tried to save them.

“Or she may not have spotted it bearing down on her. We will never know.”

The road at South Drove skirts around the edge of the town of Spalding, predominantly through farmland.

People living close to the scene of the crash said that temperatures had dropped overnight to well below freezing and that some snow had fallen during the morning rush hour.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman confirmed: “The roads were extremely bad. It would be reasonable to say the conditions played a big part.”

None of the 18 passengers on the East Midlands Trains service, which struck the car, was injured, but the train’s driver was said to be badly shaken after being left powerless to avoid the collision as the woman struggled to move her car.

It took two hours before engineers allowed the train to make the short journey to Spalding station, from where passengers were taken by bus to Lincoln.

Network Rail said that the train was not derailed and was only slightly damaged. Work was carried out overnight to restore full service on the line.

A passenger on board the train said: “There was a massive jolt – everyone was shoved forward. The train was about a quarter full, but no one was hurt, just shocked.”

An investigation has been started by Lincolnshire Police and British Transport Police, who are taking witness statements.

Chief Superintendent Dave Roney, of the transport police, said: “This is a tragic accident. We are working closely with police and Network Rail to establish precisely what happened.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth