Media centre

Tuesday 21 Jan 2014

Drivers and pedestrians still risking lives at level crossings in the south

Region & Route:

| Southern

Drivers and pedestrians are continuing to put their lives and the lives of others – including children – at risk by misusing level crossings in south-west London, Surrey and Hampshire.

Footage from CCTV cameras at level crossings in the south has been revealed today as Network Rail successfully closes its 750th crossing since 2010.

One clip, from a Network Rail-British Transport Police CCTV van in North Sheen in south-west London, shows a man running across the railway while pushing a child in a pushchair. Another, from Mount Pleasant, near Southampton, shows a car driving down the wrong side of the road before weaving around closing crossing barriers.

Sharon Vye-Parminter, safety director for the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance, which runs the railway in Surrey and Hampshire, said: “We are committed to improving safety on what is already a very safe railway and we are always looking at ways to make level crossings safer. However, as these pictures show, there are still people out there who are prepared to put lives in danger.

“Closing level crossings is one way that we can reduce to the risk to the railway, but we also need the help of the public.”

The closure of a level crossing on the East Coast Main Line in Cambridgeshire today means Network Rail has now reached its target, set in 2010, of closing 10% of Britain’s crossings – 750 in total – by April 2014, contributing to a reduction in the overall risk level crossings pose to the network by 25%.

The Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance has closed nine level crossings and has installed new audible alarms at eight operational crossings.

Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations for Network Rail, said: "Reaching our target to close 750 crossings in four years is good news for Network Rail, train operators and of course the public, but we cannot be complacent. There is much more we can do to make the level crossings that remain safer and we will continue to introduce new technology, upgrade crossings to include lights or barriers where appropriate and work with schools, communities and other organisations to spread awareness of our safety message.

"We've pledged to close a further 500 level crossings in the next five years. Successfully closing a crossing isn't always a straightforward process, so we will need the support from local authorities, landowners and the public to help us achieve our new target and improve safety further still."

Since 2010, Network Rail has invested £131m in a national level crossings improvement programme, which by the end of March will have resulted in:

- 38 footbridges to replace crossings

- 57 new spoken warnings installed to announce "another train is coming" when one train has already passed through

- Obstacle detection radar technology installed at 13 sites

- New barrier technology installed at 33 sites which previously had open crossings

- New warning lights installed at 16 crossings

- 250 power operated gate openers installed to prevent vehicle owners crossing the tracks on foot unnecessarily or gates being left open

- ‘Wavetrain’ sound vibration technology trialled at Whitehouse Priory View crossing in Norfolk

- GPS technology installed on the Marks Tey – Sudbury line allowing signallers to pinpoint a train's location and provide better safety information to those requesting permission to cross

- 21 crossings fitted with red light safety cameras to dissuade motorists from jumping the lights

- 13 mobile safety camera enforcement vans operated by British Transport Police

- 100 new Network Rail level crossing managers

- National TV and digital advertising campaign – See Track, Think Train

- Rail Life schools awareness campaign www.rail-life.co.uk

Network Rail has pledged close a further 500 crossings in the next five years, investing more than £100m over this period as part of its ongoing programme of work to improve safety and reduce risk to passengers and the wider public.

In 2013, there were 10 accidental fatalities at level crossings and 10 collisions between trains and road vehicles.