Trains Slowed by Track-Walking Mystery Woman

Acton Central to Willesden Junction by foot

This afternoon at around 3.30pm I was waiting with my dog to cross the barriers at Acton Central. To my amazement I saw a woman wearing a hooded, black knee-length coat carrying what looked like a Sainsbury's carrier bag, walking in a Northerly direction beside the train tracks.

My first thoughts were that this woman must be either mad, or inconsiderate, or perhaps both. Whichever of these she was, she could have been injured, or caused a serious accident. I notified the member of staff at the ticket office immediately. He jumped into action and within 15 minutes or so there were a number of policemen swarming around as well as quite a few Rail Network employees.

A train approaching from Willesden Junction slowed to a crawl when it saw her and I saw the driver using his phone shortly afterwards.

I believe the trains were running normally a short while later, so with any luck the mystery track-walker will have been taken to a safe place.

Clare Gittins