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Sunday 14 Jun 2009

N LINCS LEVEL CROSSING USERS WARNED NOT TO RUN THE RISK

Region & Route:

Network Rail is reminding people in north Lincolnshire to make sure they stay safe while using level crossings this summer. The warning comes as more freight trains are scheduled to travel along the Brigg line while £20m planned rail improvement works are carried out on their usual route.

These trains will be carrying coal from Immingham docks to the power stations at Drax, Ferrybridge, Eggborough Cottam and West Burton and Rugeley, plus steel from the Corus works at Scunthorpe.

Kevin Preece, area general manager for Network Rail, said: "We are investing around £20m on the line between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. This means that trains cannot run on that line between 21 June and 7 September. The work has been deliberately planned at the time of year when freight services are fewer but it is important that we keep the freight on the railway and, in doing so, keep lorries off our roads.

"People who regularly cross the Brigg line will be used to a certain amount of traffic but that will increase for the 11 weeks of these improvement works. Crossings are safe, but they must be used properly. Please do not risk your life by ignoring the warnings."

The Brigg line runs south from Barnetby via Brigg and Gainsborough and was upgraded at a cost of £10m last year to allow the movement of regular scheduled freight and cut road congestion in South Humberside and North Lincolnshire. The upgrade project was highly commended in Institute of Civil Engineer's Yorkshire and Humber regional awards.

At present there are currently 12-13 trains per day along the route, this will increase to approximately 6 trains per hour. The affected towns are Brigg, Northorpe, Auckley, Haxey, Bawtry, Epworth, Misson and Finningley.