A mother is campaigning for increased security at smaller stations at night to spare other families the pain after her best friend was killed by a train last month.
Jill Canovan committed suicide at Heaton Chapel train station in Stockport at around 4am on Monday, June 3, after a long battle with mental health issues.
Emergency services rushed to the scene but the mother-of-two died at the scene. She was just 46 and leaves behind a devastated daughter, Amber, aged 25.
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Maxine Campbell, 50, from Stockport, who has known Jill for more than 30 years, was devastated when she found out the next morning and started a petition to make small railway stations safer. According to figures from the Office of Rail and Road, there were 300 suicides or suspected attempts on the UK’s main line between April 2022 and March 2023, resulting in 236 deaths.
Maxine believes that locking stations with barriers or gates after passenger trains stop running for the night will give people time to think.
Maxine, who lost a family member under similar circumstances in 2020 and said she had not been able to take trains because of her grief since Jill’s death, added that having stations properly lit or staffed at night could also act as a deterrent.
Maxine said: “I knew her since she was 14 and she passed away when she was 46. So we have had a long-standing friendship, she was like a sister to me.”
“I haven’t been to every train station in the UK but I know that in many of the smaller ones you can access the platforms when there are no passenger trains. I know it will happen again but I think we can do something to stop other families going through this pain.”
In his petition on Change.org, he is asking the Government to “implement night-time security measures at all minor railway stations across the country”.
Maxine described Jill as “the life of the party” and said: “You will never find a soul like her again.”
“I was really sad when he died at first, but then I thought he was laughing and just being silly,” Maxine added. “I would start laughing and get mad at myself because I was trying to be sad. He was kind and generous – everyone classed him as a best friend.”
But Maxine also knew that Jill had struggled with mental health issues on and off for most of her life.
“I was aware that he was struggling before, but I didn’t realize it was happening now and the extent of it,” she said. “In the past, we’ve been able to talk it out and help him see it differently, but not this time.”
When emergency services arrived at the scene on the morning of June 3, it was determined that Jill had died.
“The train station has two entrances but there are no barriers, you can walk straight to the platform,” he said. “There are no passenger trains late at night, only freight trains that don’t slow down.”
Maxine believes Jill could be alive today if Heaton Chapel station had been closed to the public.
“I’m not saying that if there had been a barrier there that night he wouldn’t have done something to himself later,” Maxine added. “But that night, if he hadn’t been able to get into the station, he wouldn’t have gone. It would have been a deterrent, or at least it would have been harder, and maybe someone would have seen him get through.”
He also noted that many of the smaller stations he has visited over the years were poorly lit at night and unmanned.
Maxine has avoided stations and train travel since the incident.
“I can’t imagine actually having to take the train because the sound of the train brings everything back and it’s still pretty fresh,” she said.
“This has made it difficult for him to visit his 32-year-old son and his partner in London. I would find it difficult to visit them now,” he said.
“This is fresh, so maybe in a year or two I can get it done, but right now I can’t. I don’t even want to say the word (train).”
A spokesman for Rail Delivery Group said: “Safety is always our top priority. We work closely with British Transport Police and industry partners to ensure our customers and staff are safe and secure.”
“We are always looking to make improvements to make the railway a safe and supportive place for people who are finding life difficult and we encourage our customers and staff to speak up and seek help when they need it.”
For mental health support you can contact Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org.
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