Mother from Shropshire made an MBE for safety campaign
A mother from Shropshire who has dedicated her life to improving rail safety after her teenage daughter died on a level crossing has been honoured.
Tina Hughes lost her daughter Olivia Bazlington in 2005 when she and her friend Charlotte Thompson were hit by a train as they walked over the rail tracks at Elsenham in Essex.
Olivia was 14, Charlotte was 13 and the tragedy shocked a nation and brought fresh questions about the safety of level crossings..
Mrs Hughes launched a tireless campaign to highlight the dangers associated with crossings and was this week awarded an MBE after being nominated by Network Rail.
Mrs Hughes went to Meole Brace School and Wakeman College in Shrewsbury before moving to Essex and her parents, Peter and Valerie Brown, still live in the area.
She said: "It was such a surprise and such a nice thing for Network Rail to do. I've been bursting to tell my parents.
"It's such an honour. It's because I do work with Network Rail to change attitudes and improve safety on level crossings. The change that has come across is phenomenal. And the passion people are showing is lovely.
"It's poignant. None of this would have happened if Olivia would have been alive. I would much rather she was still here but, because I can't change what happened in the past, I was really pleased to work with Network Rail to make these changes. And now it's such a lovely thing that's happening. When we go to receive the honour, my other daughter, Stevie, will be coming with me."
After Olivia was killed it was over five years before the truth about Elsenham came out and Network Rail was finally prosecuted for the girls death's in 2012.
Network Rail's newly appointed chief executive, Sir David Higgins, asked Mrs Hughes to work with Network Rail as its Level Crossing User Champion.
She said: "I talk to people in Network Rail about the real impact of deaths on level crossings.
"A year ago Network Rail introduced level crossing managers and these dedicated people manage a group of about 70 or 80 level crossings each and get to know all the issues.
"Network Rail says that Elsenham was the watershed moment for it, in fact I think that the watershed was when it was found out in 2011. Since then phenomenal change has been achieved with over 800 crossings closed nationwide and many are being upgraded to reduce the risk to users."
Star comment: Why must a life be lost first?
