A mother whose straight-A student daughter was killed at a level crossing after being hit by a 'silent' midnight train is now suing Network Rail over her child's tragic death.
Milena Gagic, 16, died instantly when she was hit by the night train at the level crossing in Hipperholme, Halifax, in December 2014.
The teenager, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, who was tipped for a place at Oxford or Cambridge, and wanted to be a zoologist.
Her mother, Leanne Gagic, is now suing Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd for £22,124 for breaching its duty of care- although her barrister explained that her case is 'not about money'.
Milena Gagic was killed after she ventured onto a railway line and was struck by a train at 55mph
Milena and her best friend, Amelia Hustwick, had gone to the crossing late at night to chat because it was 'a nice place to hang out', Central London County Court heard.
They sat between the train tracks, 'laughing and giggling' because they thought trains did not run at night.
Both girls had grown up in the local area and believed that, if any train did approach, it would sound its horn.
But since 2007, a 'night time quiet period' had been ushered in, barring horns between 11pm and 7am, said barrister Stephen Glyn.
Her mother is now suing Network Rail over her daughter's death
Mrs Gagic says that Network Rail breached its duty of care in failing to properly warn people that night trains no longer sounded their horns at Hipperholme, where villagers hear the sounds of train whistles over 100 times a day.
She claims that a simple sign explaining that drivers would no longer sound their horn overnight would have saved her daughter's life.
But Network Rail is disputing fault, denying breaching its duty, and suggesting that Milena was herself to blame.
Signs may have been ineffective as studies suggest they are frequently missed, Network Rail claimed.
Milena was studying for her A-levels when she died, said her devastated mother, having clocked up eleven A-stars at GCSE.
She dreamed of being a zoologist and 'wanted to go to university very much,' she added.
Barrister Mr Glyn said it was hard to see and hear approaching trains at the crossing location due to curvature of the track.
And he claimed locals such as Milena and Amelia would have been lulled into a false sense of security because
