From tragic rail accidents to unexpected near-misses with mobility scooters and tractors, Kent's level crossings have thrown up more than enough to haunt the dreams of the county's train drivers over recent years.

Now details of more than 100 terrifying close-calls and collisions at level crossings in Kent have been revealed by Network Rail, with Gravesend home to one of the most dangerous points to cross the railway in the county.

While fatal accidents and collisions with vehicles at crossings are fortunately rare, figures show far more people diced with death on the tracks in the last five years, with 118 near misses documented between 2014 and 2019.

The rail operators' new figures do not include suicides but outline two tragic accidents, including the death of schoolgirl Sacha Wheeler, who was killed instantly when she was hit by a train at a 'high risk' pedestrian crossing in Glebe Way, Whitstable, in February 2015, and the death of a man in March 2015 at crossing close to Birchington-on-Sea.

Other accidents saw a van driver hospitalised after he collided with a Javelin high-speed train on the Frognal Farm level crossing near Teynham between Faversham and Sittingbourne in October 2017; while October the following year saw a man arrested and twenty passengers led to safety after a train collided with a car, causing it to burst into flames, at the same crossing.

That same month passengers again had to be led to safety after a train struck a car at a crossing in Halling, blocking the line between Strood and Maidstone for several hours.

Network Rail say they have invested more than £100 million to improve level crossing safety across the country in the last five years but the operators stress people using crossings still need to exercise common sense to eliminate the risk of accidents completely.

Last year they were forced to issue a warning after a motorcyclist came within inches of being killed by a Southeastern high speed train while illegally riding over the pedestrian crossing at Shornemead Fort near Gravesend.

The Shornemead crossing has been the site of 10 other near misses since it was reopened in 2016 following a campaign spearheaded by Shorne Parish Council, which is more reported incidents than at any other crossing in the county since 2014.

These included a "near miss with a group of people" in September 10, 2016, a "member of public going back and forward with their bike" in front of a train on July 25, 2018, and near misses with dog walkers and motocross bikes last year.

Elsewhere Simpsons Crossing between Sittingbourne and Newington saw eight near misses in the same time period, including one incident on June 3, 2018 where four children aged 12-13 were "playing chicken" with a train.

Other sites around Kent have seen their fair share of close-calls too, and among the more bizarre incidents included a near miss with a mobility scooter on June 9, 2019 at Tonford Crossing between Canterbury West and Chartham.

An official report recorded a near miss said: "With a mobility scooter that was stuck on the crossing causing the driver to apply the emergency brake", and continued "The driver stated that the scooter was pushed off the crossing just in time for the train to miss it.

"The driver inspected the train to ensure they had not struck anyone or the scooter and found no evidence of having done so.

"The driver who was shaken by the incident, continued to Ashford where they were relieved of duty."

In one terrifyingly close call a dog walker narrowly avoided death at the crossing near Ryarsh Lane in West Malling on April 13, 2017.

The incident report recorded: "The driver brought the train to a stand via application of the emergency brake and confirms stopping just short of the individual", while at Faversham on August 27, 2014 a driver reported a near miss with "a person who laid down in front of the train, the driver applied the emergency brake, stopping short of the person, who then got up and walked away."

A number of close-calls appear to be down to absent-mindedness, such as the case at Frognal Farm near Teynham on January 12, 2018, when a "person wearing headphones jogged onto the crossing in front of the train before jumping back as the train driver sounded a warning."

Others show more deliberate negligence, such as at the Gillingham crossing on June 20, 2016, when a driver thought the train has possibly struck a person who had climbed the barriers.

"The Gillingham mobile operations manager reported that a member of the public had observed the person climb over the lowered barriers and run across in front of the train," recorded the official report.

"They were then observed to climb the barriers on the other side and make off. The traction current was restored at 17.23 hours after the area had been checked.

"The driver of 1P50 was shaken by the incident and was relieved of duty at Gillingham, where the service was terminated."

Other cases show how drivers have found themselves confronted with large vehicles such as tractors and tankers on the tracks, narrowly avoiding collisions that could have had disastrous consequences for all those on the train itself.

On October 4, 2015 at Monkton Parsonage in Thanet a driver reported a near miss with a tractor, the official report recording said: "The tractor had started to traverse the crossing when the tractor driver realised that a train was approaching.

"The tractor driver then reversed clear of the crossing. The driver was a little shaken by the incident but fit to continue,"

At Chandlers Level Crossing near Reculver, on March 30, 2017, a driver reported a "near miss with a JCB pulling a tanker".

While the records offer a disturbing insight into the dangers faced by train drivers, collisions are fortunately rare, but Network Rail say they serve as a reminder to how those using crossings need to remain careful and alert.

Shorne Parish Council vice chairman Cllr Robin Theobald had a similar message as he said user-awareness - or a lack of it - was the main problem at the Shornemead Crossing, where he said visibility from the crossing was clear for hundreds of metres of track in both directions.

"The position is there has always been a right of way down to the river across the crossing," he said, recounting how the parish council had battled for years to maintain the right of way after the crossing was closed in 2009, eventually winning the right to reopen it in 2016 after appealing to the Secretary of State.

"The problem we have got is some of the people using the crossing," added Cllr Theobald.

"Most of the people using the crossing quite a lot take their push bikes over. People can get down to the riverbank, which I think is a significant asset. I go down there several times a year. You meet families and children with bikes will be cycling along somewhere safe.

"It's more a question of responsible use at the crossing, and the position as far as that is concerned may be one of education.

"The problem we have got is some of the people using the crossing..."

"Usually if there's a train around, nobody dares to cross. Quite clearly there's a problem with certain elements of the community."

But he added: "We recognise there's a hazard. What we are asking is we're seeking a meeting at Network Rail to discuss the safety issues on the crossing.

"We want to know what they're going to do to make it safer so we can keep our right of way and they can avoid the risk of another incident. We're looking for a mutual solution - the problem will be funding it."

A statement from Network Rail stressed that safety measures could not fully guard against the irresponsible use of crossing.

A spokesman said: “The railway is full of both obvious and hidden dangers, but sadly there remains a lack of awareness among drivers and pedestrians around how dangerous level crossings can be.

“We have invested more than £100m over the last five years to improve level crossing safety across Britain, but we also need drivers and pedestrians to pay attention to warnings at level crossings. Drivers must stay behind the barrier until the red lights stop and it is safe to cross. At pedestrian crossings, people should always Stop, Look and Listen for trains."

And they added: "Nothing is worth risking your life over just to save a few moments of time.”

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