Media centre

Tuesday 20 Apr 2004

CROSSINGS UPGRADED TO IMPROVE SAFETY

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Network Rail has upgraded 25 private crossings in the Shropshire, Cambrian and mid-Wales area as part of a regional programme to improve safety. In the Great Western region in total, Network Rail invested nearly £3 million last year in upgrading private crossings and closing others, most of which are on farmland. The Shropshire area is the first to complete this initial phase of its private crossings improvement programme. Running hand-in-hand with the improvement programme is a scheme to permanently close a number of private crossings, with the agreement of the landowner. In the same area, agreement has been reached to close almost 20. The aim of the improvement programme is to increase safety at these unmanned crossings. Changes include re-siting gates so they are nearer to the line, so improving visibility; updating signage; clearing vegetation that may obscure the signs and sight of the line; and improving the surface of the crossing. “In some cases the old gates may have been too far from the crossing,” said Lee Green, Network Rail’s Maintenance Delivery Manager. “We have moved gates to they are no more than 3m away. We have also widened some narrow gates to remove the risk of large farm machinery being stuck inside the crossing.” -more- Crossings 2             Kevin Roberts, Operations and Safety Project Manager for Network Rail, said the programme to close or upgrade crossings was aimed at improving safety. “Private crossings can present a risk so, where possible, we would wish to close them. Where this is not an option we are looking to improve their condition to make them as safe as possible.”