Typical of a rolling programme of local initiatives to promote safety at level crossings was the blitz targeting misuse of a level crossing in Cosham, Portsmouth. The blitz targeted both motorists and pedestrians who risk their lives and, in the case of motorists, those travelling by train.

Network Rail, the national rail infrastructure manager, highlighted the frequent misuse of the level crossing and urged motorists and pedestrians to stop running the red lights. A particular concern is the number of young people who play “chicken” with the frequent trains running at speeds of up to 70 mph.

The crossing blitz organised by Network Rail reached more than 900 motorists and pedestrians reminding them how of the behaviours which would keep them safe.

Camnago, Italy: Protest against closure of level crossing

Residents of Camnago, Lentate sul Seveso Monza & Brianza, demonstrated against the closure of the Via 24 Maggio level crossing   adjacent to Camnago railway station. The demonstration sought to raise community understanding of the impact of the closure and to collect signatures for a petition to be submitted to the mayor when he met representatives of the protesters.

The objective of the meeting with the mayor at which the petition with 700 signatures was presented was to secure an agreement that the level crossing would not be eliminated on May 31st, 2010 as presently planned. 500 residents are said to feel that the closure of the level crossing will leave them cut off from the centre of town. Additionally, businesses dependent on passing trade fear that their business will not be viable.

The protesters minimum requirement is that a subway, accessible to the mobility impaired, is provided before the level crossing is closed. This is not provided for at present as the city council is relying on the stepped access being provided by the rail authorities to permit access between the station platforms. Adding a ramped access will cost in the region of €0.305m, a sum which it is argued the city council should underwrite.

Melitopol, Ukraine: Four-week safety campaign underway

IN Melitopol as in other cities across Ukraine, a four-week campaign to raise awareness of the arrangements for the safe use of level crossings began on April 28th, 2010. Where people choose to ignore the safety messages, enforcement action is likely. The approach adopted is to speak to motorists queuing at the 25 level crossings in the District and distribute leaflets promoting safe behaviour. Close attention is also paid to those who do not stop as required.

Those who comply with road traffic laws applicable to secure the safe use of level crossings ar encouraged when they see enforcement action taken against those who choose not to comply, particularly when the sanctions are seen as sufficient to motivate a change in behaviours.

This was the situation in Timisoara where a special exercise was mounted at the Baader level crossing equipped with lights, bells and half-barriers. Here, in one day the haul was 14 cases in which drivers’ licenses were suspended and vehicles impounded as well as 81 where fines of more than 26,000 Lei are applicable.

Of these 31 were for specific level crossing offences with the others relating to other road traffic and criminal offences.

Again, this exercise has highlighted the benefits of rail and local police working together as exercises like this trap more than those violating the rules for the safe use of level crossings.

A motorist was seriously injured when the car in which he was travelling was struck by a train on an active open level crossing in Lambsheim, Rhein-Pfalz Kreis. This accident, which occurred on April 27th, 2010, is estimated to have caused damage valued at €10,000 to the train. A similar value has been put in respect of the damage to the car which was hit towards the rear. Nonetheless, the injuries sustained by the motorist required him to be air-lifted to hospital in Ludwigshafen.

Tereul, Spain: Crossing closed as new road-over-rail bridge opens to traffic

A level crossing close to the Teruel railway station on the road to Villaspesa, Aragon was closed on April 26th, 2010, following completion of a new road-over-rail bridge and associated highway works. Now, the focus has moved to implementing plans to eliminate a further level crossing on the road linking Tereul and Cella. Both of these crossings have been eliminated by ADIF, Spain’s national rail infrastructure manager, in pursuit of their commitment to eliminate 1,931 public level crossings.
               

Tarragona, Spain: Grade separation delayed, talks underway

The works to eliminate that Plaça dels Carros level crossing giving access to the Port of Tarragona facilities and construct an underpass have been delayed. Although claim and counter claim abound as to the root cause of the delay; ADIF – Spain’s national rail infrastructure manager, the Port Authority and City Council are working together to get the project back on track.

It appears that the issue is a function of the need to take account to alterations of a road parallel with the railway which will be affected by the new underpass. Why this wasn’t taken into account into the planning of the project isn’t clear. Each party says that they were in contact with the others and that there should have been no need for a late change in the scope of this grade separation project which responds to the requirements of the port authority.

The changed scope of the project doesn’t affect the location of the pedestrian underpass which remains at the site of the present level crossing. However, the vehicular route across the railway has to be modified. The good news is that although the project will be delayed, it is now expected to come in at costs below the €4.5m allocated to this grade separation project.

Kungälvs, Sweden: Dangerous crossing targeted for upgrade

The future looks good for those concerned at the risks associated with the poor sightlines in the vicinity of the level crossing in Kungälvs. The municipality has, as a first step, agreed to purchase two plots of land at a cost of SEK3.4m. These acquisitions will allow the project to reconfigure the approaches to the level crossing to proceed. However, there first needs to be a design agreed between the municipality and the national traffic authority Thus, the planning horizon is expected to be years rather than months

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the British rail industry’s independent safety body, has released a report with a comprehensive analysis of safety at the road-rail interface. In addition to level crossing safety, the RSSB report also addresses vehicular incursions at road-over-rail bridges and elsewhere along railway rights of way.

The report explains the wider context of improving trends in railway safety and the extent to which the risk at the road-rail interface stands out because it has not declined at the same rate as risks wholly within the control of the rail industry.

By virtue of improvements in other areas, road-rail interface risk now represents almost half of all train accident risk. It is of note that two of the three most recent multi-fatality train accidents were caused by road vehicles.

Because most level crossings risk arises from road user behaviour the British rail industry has therefore focussed on mitigating the risk at the road-rail interface through the combined actions of the Road-Rail Interface Safety Group (R-RISG) and the specific actions of Network Rail, the rail infrastructure manager and law enforcement agencies, principally British Transport Police. Recognition has also been given to world-wide good practice, expressed through the three E approach of Operation Lifesaver – Engineering, Education and Enforcement supplemented by Engagement and Evaluation to give the British five rather then three E approach.

In Britain there has not been a multi-fatality interface accident since that at Ufton in November 2004 which was caused by the actions of a suicidal motorist. In this accident five passengers and the train driver died along with the motorist who set out to take his own life
 
Accidents and incidents occurring at the road-rail interface in Britain (including level crossings, bridge strikes and incursions through fences, bridges and access points) account for approximately 12.5 fatalities and weighted injuries (1 fatality = 10 serious injuries) per year and represent 9% of the total system risk (excluding intentional deaths).

The report shows that level crossing safety performance in the UK compares favourably with other European Union Member States. The UK has the lowest risk across the Member States, being nearly ten times lower than the average for the European Union as a whole.

This RSSB report examines the road-rail interface safety performance recorded on Network Rail’s infrastructure over the last ten years and the estimated underlying level of risk derived from version 6 of the RSSB managed Safety Risk Model (SRMv6). SRMv6 estimates that 8% (11.8 FWI per year) of the total system risk occurs at level crossings. This includes risk to train occupants as a result of road user behaviour, as well as risk to level crossing users (vehicle occupants and pedestrians excluding those whose death was intentional or suspected to be so).

In Great Britain, the report shos there to have been 80 pedestrian fatalities at level crossings in the last ten years, an average of eight per year, although in 2006 there were five fatalities and in 2008 there were 13. These figures exclude intentional deaths and suspected intentional deaths.

With the exception of a low of 11 collisions recorded in 2006 and 2007, the number of collisions between trains and road vehicles at level crossings has remained broadly constant over the last ten years. On average, there are around 16 collisions per year.

Vehicle incursions at other than level crossings over the last ten years have caused 15 fatalities arising from incursions over the last ten years: five occurred to road vehicle occupants and ten to train occupants in the Great Heck accident on February 28th, 2001.

There have been 42 road vehicles struck on the running line away from level crossings in the last ten years, five of which have caused derailments. 12 fatalities resulted from these 42 incidents.

The number of intentional and suspected intentional deaths at level crossings is generally excluded from the statistics for accidental harm. However, the report does address these deaths which in 2009 represented around 15% of the overall number of intentional deaths, whereas the proportion was lower in the early years of the decade. Although most of these fatalities involve pedestrians, a small number involve motorists positioning their vehicle so that it will be struck by a train. This was the situation at Ufton when such an event also killed the train driver and a number of passengers. The pattern of intentional death at level crossings is shown in the table below.

Active open level crossings (AOCL) represent only 3% (119) of the total vehicular level crossing population. However, over the last ten years, 33% of collisions have occurred at crossings of this type. It is important to recognise that the risk per user is higher at this type of crossing.

Although AOCLs see the most collisions, they do not experience the highest number of fatalities (Automatic half-barrier AHBs have 33% of the total fatalities whereas AOCLs have 26%). This is due to the fact that the Rules require the train driver to check that the crossing is clear before passing over at a maximum speed of 55mph (with most individual crossings having a lower speed). Therefore, any collisions occur at relatively low speeds.

AHBs, on the other hand, are typically fitted at locations where road and railway is more heavily used and are often sited on busier, main lines with a maximum line speed of 100mph.

As at December 31st, 2008 there were 6,542 level crossings on infrastructure controlled by Network Rail. The make up of this population is as follows:

Since Network Rail took control of the national rail infrastructure, the number of level crossings for which they have responsibility has fallen. as follows: 2002/3 8188, 2003/4 7937, 2004 7833, 2005 7674, 2006 6785, 2007 6652, 2008 6542

The full RSSB road-rail interface report can be found on-line at:
http://www.rssb.co.uk/pdf/reports/road-rail_interface_str_full.pdf

Foxton, United Kingdom: Dismay at truck driver’s trivial sentence

Rail authorities and level crossing experts have expressed their dismay at the very light sentence handed down to a truck driver who crashed through lowering barriers many seconds after the red lights protecting the crossing activated for an approaching train. The incident resulted in Cambridge Magistrates Court fined the errant truck driver GB£170 and placed three penalty points on the transgressor’s driving licence.

Unsurprisingly rail bosses and experts have expressed dismay at what they see to be a derisory sentence handed down by the magistrates. Iain Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail, the national rail infrastructure manager, attacked the sentence saying it was only “a slap on the wrists”.

Mr Coucher added that the “incident that could have had catastrophic and fatal consequences” and that for this reason the punishment didn’t fit the crime as it “was undeniably lenient”.

Network Rail’s call for tougher sentencing is an important strand in Network Rail’s strategy to reduce risk at level crossings

Lisbon, Portugal: REFER invites bids for €8m crossing elimination project

REFER, Portugal’s national rail infrastructure manager, has invited bids for the construction of grade separated routes across the railway, closure of level crossings and associated highway works linking existing highways to the new routes across the railway. The projects require the construction of five three underpasses to be built within a one year timeframe.

Brussels, Belgium: EC workshop on level crossing safety

The European Commission (EC) hosted a two day seminar on level crossing safety on April 15th and 16th, 2010. The headline theme of the event was that the 3Es of the Operation Lifesaver approach – Engineering, Education and Enforcement – are the keyto assuring safety at level crossings.

The workshop organised by DG Move (Road Safety) was attended by representatives from most European Union member states and were drawn from road and rail as well as the police, representative organisations and European bodies.

In his opening address, Mr. Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli said that level crossing accidents are unique in requiring a bi-modal approach. Mr Grillo-Pasquarelli also highlighted the contribution of user error and the role that citizens should play in using crossings safely.

The workshop follows on from delivery of the EC funded SELCAT research project, the success of the European Level Crossing Awareness Day (ELCAD) in June 2009 and the ongoing development of a European road - rail interface strategy by the European Level Crossing Forum.

The success of ELCAD which reached beyond Europe with support from Israel, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and the USA led to a decision to extend coverage to a world-wide International Level Crossing Awareness Day, the first of which is to be held on June 22nd, 2010.
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In addition to presentations within the themes of engineering, education and enforcement a fourth strand, policy was also addressed. Topics in the policy theme covered:

The above and all other presentations are being made available via the EC’s Europa website at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/index_en.htm

(April 21st, 2010)

Achy, France: Unidentified pedestrian taxes investigators

Investigators looking into a fatal accident in which a pedestrian was struck by a train very close to a level crossing in Achy, to the north of Beauvais, Picardie, are puzzled as to the identity of the victim. Police have said that the pedestrian who died was not carrying any papers from which identification was possible.

The accident occurred in the late afternoon of April 20th, 2010. According to a witness, the man who died had been seen walking along the road towards the level crossing shortly before the accident. In addition to a lack of an identity for the victim, there was no immediate explanation as to why the man had walked along the railway from the level crossing at which he gained access to it.

Monforte, Spain: 83-year-old fatally injured in crossing collision.

An 83-year-old pedestrian was killed on April 19th, 2010, when he crossed into the path of a train. The Reboredo level crossing in Monforte de Lemos, Lugo, is automatic and equipped with warning lights and half-barriers. However, witnesses have said that the elderly man ignored the warnings that a train was approaching. It is known that the victim lived locally and made his away across the Reboredo level crossing on a near daily basis.

(April 20th, 2010)

United Kingdom: Regulator consults on revised guidance

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has launched a consultation on the revision of the guidance they publish in respect of level crossings.

ORR is consulting on two separate guides – one for users and the other aimed at those involved in the design, maintenance and continued assessment of level crossing suitability.

The user guide “Using level crossings safely” is aimed at anyone who uses level crossings, including pedestrians, motorists and agricultural workers. ORR maintains it provides easy-to-understand advice on how to use a crossing safely, while also referring to specific rules, as set out in The Highway Code, relating to using level crossings.

The technical guidance “Managing Level Crossings: Guide for managers, designers and operators” is replacing ORR’s Railway Safety Principles and Guidance, Part 2, Section E: Guidance on level crossings (“RSPG2E”), first published in 1996, by the Health and Safety Executive. This guidance now also includes the previous separate guidance on “A guide to the level crossing order submissions”.

ORR asks that responses to this consultation exercise should be sent as soon as possible, but no later July 13th, 2010.If you have comments. Please send them to Chandrika Shah in ORRs legislative development team at chandrika.shah@orr.gsi.gov.uk

The documents open for consultation can be found at:
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.10080

(April 20th, 2010)

Rail sector sources have expressed surprise that a professional truck driver was only fined GB£60 and his driving licence endorsed with four penalty points. These sanctions along with GB£95 in costs and victim surcharge were handed down by Ammanford Magistrates in relation to an offence of careless driving committed on September 9th, 2009.

The truck driver admitted the offence and said that he saw neither the yellow warning nor red stop lights displayed at the level crossing when he turned left out of Shand Road to go over the level crossing. In mitigation it was said that the truck driver was distracted by a group of youths hanging about near the level crossing. Adding, in the past that there had been problems of them riding on his flat-bed truck.

The truck driver stopped as a result of hitting a barrier and gave his name and address to the train driver as well as apologising for his error. Even so, given the risks to those travelling on the train, is a GB£60 fine appropriate?

Corpach, United Kingdom: Danger crossing to get extra signals

Network Rail, Britain’s national rail infrastructure manager, has agreed to install additional signals at the level crossing adjacent to Corpach railway station which is in close proximity to a road junction and has an accident history (LXinfo November 2009).

Although there is support for the additional signal positioned so that it can be seen by traffic turning from the side road paralleling the railway onto the level crossing, there is also a view that this doesn’t go far enough. Rather, say some in the community, Network Rail should be required to upgrade the level crossing from lights only to automatic half-barrier status. The extra light signal should be installed by July 2010.

As for the upgrade to a full automatic half-barrier status, Network Rail has said that upgrading from an active open status to automatic half-barrier status will cost in the region of GB£1m. The need for an upgrade to cost this much has been challenged with various lesser alternative figures proffered.

The Office of Rail Regulation has said that it will be monitoring the situation.

St. Margrethen, Switzerland: Active open crossing to be upgraded

The heavily skewed level crossing in Ruderbach, St Margrethen, currently of an active open status, is to be upgraded with the installation of half barriers and similar enhancement to the pedestrian and cycle arrangements. The various stakeholders have agreed to the principle that the crossing should be upgraded and that these works should be scheduled for completion in 2011.

This timetable is predicated on all planning being complete and regulatory approval being obtained within a year. The planning will continue as the various parties formally commit their share of the funding required. Essentially, the costs will be shared equally between the Appenzeller Bahn and the Canton of St Gallen. In total these parties need to find CHF0.4m.

Although it looks as if the funding will be made available there is a view within the railway company that they should not have to find SFR0.2m for this upgrade because it is driven off an increase in the level of road traffic passing over the level crossing. Clearly, there is logic to this argument; but, the legal position doesn’t reflect this logical position. Instead, the law is clear that the railway should find half of the funding even though the road traffic variable is wholly out-with their control.
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Sliven, Bulgaria: Yet another professional driver makes fatal error

The Bulgarian Transport Ministry has announced that a commission will be established to investigate a fatal level crossing accident in Sliven. The accident which occurred on April 15th, 2010 resulted in the death of a taxi driver who, apparently, ignored the active warnings at the level crossing. One of his passengers also died while the second was seriously injured.

Galicia, Spain: ADIF deploys €2.4m to eliminate five level crossings

ADIF, Spain’s national rail infrastructure manager has invited tenders for the removal of five level crossings in Galicia at an estimated cost of €2.377m. Three of the level crossings which are to be eliminated are in La Cambre on the Palencia – A Coruña rail corridor and two in Catoira (Pontevedra) on the Redondela – Santiago de Compostela corridor.

In La Cambre one of the level crossings will be replaced with a pedestrian underpass, another already restricted to pedestrian use will be closed without direct replacement. The third level crossing will be replaced by a pedestrian over bridge. Additional highway improvements will be undertaken to improve the flow of traffic between the parts of La Cambre divided by the railway. Catoira’s level crossings will be eliminated by way of construction of a widened highway running parralle to the railway and linking to alternative routes across the railway.

Barnes, United Kingdom: Truck strikes barriers, major delay ensues

A truck struck barriers at the Vine Street level crossing in Barnes, Greater London during the morning rush hour on April 14th, 2010, causing 30 minute delays to rail services through the peak period and on until approximately 09.30.

British Transport Police said that the truck driver immediately drove away from the level crossing with the result that they appealed for eyewitness reports to identify the errant driver of the skip lorry.

(April, 14th, 2010)

Waterbeach, United Kingdom: Errant motorist banned for two months

An errant motorist who crashed onto a level crossing has been banned from driving for two months following an appearance before Cambridge Magistrates. The motorist entered a plea of guilty to a charge of driving without due care and attention.

The incident on December 2nd, 2009 has been attributed by the motorist to him being dazzled by low morning sun with the result that he saw neither the flashing lights or already lowered level crossing barrier.

(April 14th, 2010)

Lehliu, Romania: Fatal accident on level crossing, minimal delays

A fatal accident which occurred on a level crossing in Lehliu on April 14th, 2010, had minimal impact on train services with the train involved being delayed 34 minutes and other trains running to time. The victim was the driver of a tipper truck. The level crossing in question is equipped with lights and warning bells which are known to have been working correctly at the time of the accident.