Media centre

Friday 6 Nov 2015

Level crossing upgrades will improve safety and reliability in the East Midlands

Region & Route:

| Eastern

People and businesses in the East Midlands are set to benefit from Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan as the next phase of a £35m resignalling programme gets under way later this month.

Bingham and Aslockton level crossings in Nottinghamshire and Orston Lane level crossing in Leicestershire will be upgraded to improve the performance, reliability and safety of the railway network in the East Midlands.

Work will start on all three crossings at 4am on Monday 16 November and will be closed to road traffic until 8am on Monday 30 November. All three crossings will remain open to pedestrians throughout this time and will be staffed 24-hours a day throughout the closure to ensure that people can cross safely.

The upgrade is part of a major resignalling project on both the Newark Line (Nottingham to Newark Castle) and the Grantham Line (Nottingham to Allington West Junction) which is expected to be completed in 2016. The modernisation programme will also see the signallers who control trains and level crossings move to the state-of-the-art East Midlands Control Centre in Derby.

Train services will be running normally throughout the level crossing closure. Bus services which use the crossings will be diverted, with passengers encouraged to check with the operator before they travel.

Mark Tarry, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “These level crossing upgrades are a vital aspect of our Railway Upgrade Plan which will deliver a better railway for people and businesses in the East Midlands. This £35m investment will see the latest technology used to bring the railway up to the most modern standards and will result in a safer, more reliable railway.”

For more information on accessing the crossing, contact Network Rail’s 24-Hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41.